There was a recent discussion on reddit about the evolving role of instructional designers and whether coding will be necessary in the future. I responded to this question, and I want to expand on my thoughts here, because it’s a topic that’s only going to become more relevant in the coming years.
Let me be clear: I don’t necessarily think coding should be a required skill for every instructional designer. But I do believe that an understanding of how software is built—and how code works under the hood—is going to become far more desirable than it is today.
Why? The AI Shift Is Changing Everything
If I were starting out as an ID today, looking five years ahead, I’d strongly consider gaining at least a foundational understanding of programming and backend development. We’re at a point where artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming what’s possible in design and development.
AI already excels at front-end development. I’ve personally used AI to build websites, mobile apps (iOS), and game-based applications in Unreal Engine. While AI can generate the code, I’ve found that these projects still require significant knowledge of software engineering. Why?
Because AI isn’t magic. It can write code, sure—but it often writes it incorrectly. It can’t read your mind. You need to be able to:
- Read the code like reading a book
- Troubleshoot errors
- Understand the logic behind the code
- Choose between different architectural solutions
- Modify algorithms when they’re off
- Know when to step in and change the code manually
That’s where your value as a human designer and thinker comes in.
Simple Tools Will Be Automated
Think about the tools many IDs use today—Storyline, Rise, and similar rapid development platforms. These are going to be fully automated by AI in the near future. We’re already seeing tools like Lovable, backed by significant venture capital, making major strides in this area.
But here’s the thing: these tools like Lovable, while promising, are currently limited to simple, front-end tasks. They’re not yet capable of building complex, interactive, or immersive learning environments. That’s where the opportunity lies for instructional designers who understand software development.
The Future Is Full Stack (or at Least “Software Aware”)
We’re heading toward a future where instructional designers won’t just be creating slides and click-through modules. We’ll be creating full-fledged immersive experiences—complete with custom interactivity, media, gamification, and backend integration. To do that, we’ll need to understand how to things like:
- Work with databases
- Run cron jobs
- Use Unix/SSH
- Integrate with LMS platforms beyond just the SCORM package
You don’t need to become a professional software engineer. But you do need to understand the language and structure of software development enough to work with AI, developers, and advanced tools effectively.
What Should You Learn?
If you’re thinking about upskilling, here’s what I’d recommend:
- A web development course (HTML, CSS, JavaScript)
- An object-oriented programming course (Python or Java)
- An introduction to software engineering
These foundational skills will help you stay ahead of the curve as AI tools continue to take over traditional elearning development tasks.
Final Thoughts
The future of instructional design is not about knowing how to code everything by hand—AI will take care of that. It’s about knowing how software is built so you can design, manage, and troubleshoot complex, AI-assisted learning solutions.
This shift won’t eliminate the need for human instructional designers. On the contrary—it will elevate the field, opening doors to more creative, impactful, and technically sophisticated work. But to seize that opportunity, we’ll need to evolve along with the tools.