Overview
The first step of our instructional design process was to understand the context as much as possible. Who was the sponsor? What did they want? Why? After we established the context, we were able to put together a research plan for collecting data.
This section was informed by the works of Dirksen (2016), Brown & Green (2015), and Austin (2019).
Context Study
Project Sponsor
Who is requesting the change?
Coinbase
Coinbase is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world and a recognized leader in the fast-growing Financial Technology (or FinTech) sector. Their mission is to create an open financial system for the world by helping people convert digital currency such as Bitcoin into and out of their local currency. ​
​
Project Sponsor
Why are they requesting it?
Coinbase is seeing a lot more young customers using its platform to make investment choices. However, they're concerned that many may lack the knowledge and education to make decisions wisely (and possibly blame the company for losses they may incur as a result).
​
They have therefore tasked us, an instructional design team, to come up with an instructional solution for this issue so that their customers can make wiser investment decisions and enjoy their user experience with Coinbase.
​
Before committing to an instructional intervention, our next step was to conduct a Needs Analysis in order to judge whether instruction was truly needed.
Stakeholders
How do we get project details?
Nicky Parks
Sponsor Representative
Nicky Parks was an early adopter of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum as well as one of the earliest proponents for the viability of NFTs (or, Non-Fungible Tokens) as investible assets, especially among the younger generations.
In his role as a stakeholder, Nicky represents his company's interests and provides the constraints and parameters for this project.
Stakeholders
How do we find information?
Sung Jung
Subject Matter Expert
We realized that we ourselves knew very little about the subject matter. So we turned to Sung for guidance.
​
A veteran of the financial industry, Sung has worked for global institutions such as American Express, Citi, and JP Morgan Chase & Co. Sung is himself a huge advocate for financial literacy and is currently designing an experiential learning game aimed at providing children with financial education regarding emerging financial concepts (such as cryptocurrencies).
Instructional Design Model
The Morrison, Ross & Kemp Model (2004)
We deliberately postponed deciding on an ID model until after our research was done. We were able to retroactively come to the realization that due to how we were conducting this project, it was the Kemp model that made the best fit (as we will explain more in the Needs Analysis).
Rationale
1
Non-linear process
Linear models would have meant being unable to iterate backwards...and we needed this flexibility for our project.
2
Concurrent stages
Once we had our research completed, we wanted a model that would let us work on elements concurrently.
3
Design thinking synergy
The Kemp model aligned very well with our incorporation of the Design Thinking process.