Rounds of Review
When developing a learning experience, you need feedback, and a lot of it. It would make me deeply uncomfortable if my work was published without multiple sets of eyes on it beforehand.
To collect feedback, you should plan for multiples stages of review (an iterative approach). Plan these touchpoints in advance and let the reviewers know the dates when you will need their support ahead of time.
Start with an initial edit by having someone either from your team, an editor, or someone from documentation/knowledge management review your scripts. Then when you have a first draft of the learning solution, do another round of review with SMEs and/or other instructional designers. Finally, do a last round of review with SMEs/instructional designers before publishing your course.
You may call these rounds QA, UAT, dry-run, or Alpha/Beta/Gold review; the names are not as important as collecting feedback at multiple stages.
Communicate clearly with your reviewers exactly what type of feedback you need from them. SMEs should be checking for content accuracy and conceptual clarity, while instructional designers and editors can review functionality, grammar, design and course flow. These different perspectives are important for a holistic review of your project.
To keep all of the feedback organized and stay on top of which comments have already been implemented, collect the feedback all in one place, like Articulate review or a communal spreadsheet. Tracking the feedback in one central location shows everyone that you are taking their comments seriously.
Feedback is a gift, so don’t get defensive or take comments personally. It helps to remember that feedback enables you to produce better, more polished work.
