Quality Function Deployment in Training Design

Since the 1950s, the designers of training systems have embraced the logical and deliberate methodology of the Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, and Evaluate (ADDIE) Model in one form or another (Figure 1) (Dick, Carey, & Carey, 2001; Sugrue, 2003). The inherent linear design of this model perpetuates thinking that a single input leads to a single output. Each phase has specific associated tasks dependent on the phase preceding it. The conceptual model is extremely linear in execution, albeit, ideally, the activities should be interwoven (Smith & Ragan, 1999). The traditional model implies terminality. One cannot refute the efforts or the products, but given the rapid advancement of technology and the complexity of performance systems, it is time to question the success of time-intensive approaches based on the classic models (Foshay, 1995; Myers, 1999; Wallace, Hybert, Smith, & Blecke, 2003).