/00 Field notes
Practical writing for working IDs.
SCORM hosting, xAPI, portfolio examples, freelancing economics, and the occasional rant about Articulate Review. Written by working instructional designers, edited by an ex-LMS-engineer who has feelings about cmi.completion_status.
How to actually host a SCORM file. Without an LMS.
If you've ever tried to send a SCORM 1.2 zip to a client and watched them email back asking "what app opens this," this one's for you. A walkthrough of the four real options, ranked by how much your client will hate each, with screenshots and the SCORM-API gotchas no one warns you about.
The four real ways, ranked.
- 1Purpose-built ID hostRecommended
- 2SCORM CloudSolid
- 3Self-host a playerIf technical
- 4A Loom recordingDon't
21 instructional designer portfolio examples we steal from.
Examples· 12 min read
21 ID portfolios worth stealing from.
Real freelance instructional designer portfolios with screenshots, what they get right, what they fudge, and the one structural pattern every great portfolio shares.
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Resume vs portfolio: what hiring IDs actually look at.
Career· 9 min read
Resume vs portfolio: what gets IDs hired.
We reviewed common ID interview pipelines over time. The resume gets you the call. One specific shape of portfolio gets you the offer. Here's that shape.
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STAR case studies that don't read like a job application.
Tutorial· 9 min read
A STAR case-study template you can actually fill in.
Situation. Task. Action. Result. The template every great ID portfolio uses — and the three filler phrases that ruin it.
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What hiring managers want in an ID portfolio.
Career· 8 min read
What hiring managers actually want in an ID portfolio.
I review instructional design portfolios on deadline. Here's what survives the first 30 seconds, what gets cut, and how the page sets up the interview.
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Presenting outcomes and proof (even under NDA).
Tutorial· 10 min read
How to present learning outcomes and proof in your ID portfolio.
Connect design decisions to measurable outcomes without overselling — and without leaking the client. The NDA-safe way to show ranges, pair quotes with KPIs, and dodge the claims that collapse in an interview.
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Portfolio Day recap.
Career· 10 min read
Portfolio Day: the themes, takeaways, and fixes that actually stick.
The recurring patterns from live ID portfolio reviews — and what to fix this week.
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/16 The newsletter
One careful email every Tuesday.
Tuesday-morning notes for working IDs: new post, one tool I'm using this week, one portfolio worth stealing from. No threads, no upsells, no "are you taking advantage of AI yet?"
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