This year isn’t just about smarter tools. It’s about smarter choices such as prioritising connection, human-centered design, and learning that actually moves the needle.
To cut through the noise, we asked experienced instructional designers what’s trending, what’s tired, and what’s next. Here’s what they told us:
Kath Cherrie (Branch Co-President of NZATD): Using AI to support the development of learning
Mitty Enslin (Learning & Development Manager at Zarraffa’s Coffee): Performance-first design. I think a performance-first mindset for L&D will continue to grow this year.
A performance-first mindset treats learning as an enabler of behaviour change in our organisations, not an act of content production. It’s grounded, disciplined, data-literate, and deeply human.
In 2026, the smartest teams will double down on business impact and stop wasting their time on things that look impressive but change nothing.
Amanda Nguyen (Learning Design Consultant): One trend that really matured in 2025 and I think will grow even stronger in 2026 is the shift from content production to experience design. L&D teams are starting to realise that the problem has never been “not enough training.” It’s been a lack of intentionality, clarity, and emotional resonance. People don’t want more modules; they want learning that feels modern, human, and actually meaningful.
This year I’ve watched organisations move away from pumping out eLearnings and towards designing experiences with flow, intention, and moments that actually land. They’re thinking more like UX designers and storytellers, not just subject matter translators. And that shift is only accelerating! Leaders are asking for learning that reflects their culture, influences behaviour, and feels thoughtfully crafted not just digitised.
In 2026, this won’t be a trend. It’ll be the new baseline. We’re entering a world where learning must feel intentional, visually clear, grounded in strategy, and emotionally engaging. It’s such an exciting evolution for our industry, and honestly, it’s the direction learning should have always been heading.
Loz Wooton (L&D Specialist @ Whanake Learning): I think people are becoming more conscious of the importance of learning through connections with others. Online Learning Communities are growing in popularity, but I think we need to spend time understanding what 'good' looks like, and even more importantly, how to ensure these opportunities to learn together are kept safe and inclusive. It's really easy to set up a space like this, but a good design is key in ensuring that space is impactful and useful for learners.
Kath Cherrie: Thinking that AI will do all the work in developing learning.
Mitty Enslin: AI slop learning. Stop the slop. Please.
People feeding prompts into a model and treating the output like it’s publish-ready learning. AI is brilliant when you direct it, partner with it. It’s dangerous when you fully hand over the reigns to it. If your design thinking, analysis, decisions, structure, and voice aren’t solid, AI will happily mass-produce mediocre content at scale.
I also know that AI tools tailored to learning will keep popping up fast. And by the time you’ve finished reading this sentence, it will have already spawned three new platforms, a beta waiting list and another LinkedIn thought-leader.
I’m excited to see the new things that will save me time and energy, but my hope is that we’ll stay grounded and stop chasing shiny objects, new tools, or AI toys - that don’t actually solve performance problems. If it doesn’t help someone do their job better, faster, safer, or smarter, it’s just noise.
We don’t need more slop; we need beautifully crafted and intentional learning experiences designed by humans for humans.
Amanda Nguyen: I would love for us to leave behind the era of “Create now, problem-later” learning. You know the one where someone drops a giant slide deck on your lap and says, “Can you make this an eLearning?” or a request comes through with a pre-decided solution before anyone has even explored the actual problem. That approach leads to rework, overwhelmed learners, frustrated stakeholders, and frankly, a lot of unnecessary suffering for L&D teams.
When we treat learning as a dumping ground for information instead of a designed experience, we miss the whole point. We ignore behaviour, culture, systems, and constraints. These are the very things that determine whether learning succeeds or not. I’ve worked with so many organisations who felt stuck in that cycle, and the difference once they slow down, clarify, and redesign with intention is incredible.
I hope 2026 is the year we let go of learning that’s built for convenience rather than impact. Clarity isn’t a delay; it’s a multiplier. When we stop jumping into content and start understanding the problem we’re solving, everything becomes lighter, smarter, and so much more meaningful for both learners and the organisation.
Loz Wooton: Unsolicited feedback and sometimes straight up bullying in the L&D community - and a lack of kindness! I'd like to see more spaces where people are celebrated no matter where they are in their journey, and especially in social media spaces masquerading as networking (ahem Linkedin). I've said it so many times - kindness is free, and calling someone out publicly because they didn't tick every accessibility box, or their skills aren't as advanced as others, does not create an empowering environment for people to grow in.
I think all the bells and whistles - and trends - can be really overwhelming to someone new to the space, so I'd like to see more obvious support for newcomers from leaders in the spaces, especially since it can be hyper-competitive for contractors and no one person can hold all the jobs! If I can get through 2026 without seeing someone trolling an e-learning project post that someone poured hours into, I'll feel like we're on the right track.
Kath Cherrie: I think the professionalism of L&D people is growing - it's like we are really standing tall in what we offer. I do hope this continues in 2026.
Mitty Enslin: I think we’ll see a mix of teams getting distracted by all the shiny AI tricks and toys and others who will stay the course (be deliberate) and move from “What can we build with this cool tool?” to “What actually works for our learners, our business, and our context?”
These are the teams in 2026 that will be less like content factories and more like performance partners, blending behavioural science, UX, user insight, and smart AI collaboration to create learning that’s genuinely useful.
Amanda Nguyen: I think 2026 will be defined by the partnership between strategic learning experience design and human-centered AI. Not AI as a shortcut, not as a replacement for learning designers, and definitely not as a content factory but as a clarity tool. A thinking partner. Something that helps us map ideas, remove complexity, prototype approaches, and reduce that heavy cognitive load L&D teams often carry.
At the same time, we’re moving deeper into the very human side of learning. The emotional design. The narrative. The behaviour science. The cultural layers. The parts of learning that actually affect how someone feels, thinks, and behaves. When you mix those two forces, you get AI that accelerates clarity and humans who elevate creativity. You also get learning experiences that are faster to shape, stronger in impact, and far more aligned to organisational realities.
L&D in 2026 won’t be about deliverables. It will be about moments that shift behaviour, experiences that shape culture, and learning that feels alive rather than mechanical. Strategic, thoughtful, beautifully designed learning that treats humans like humans!
Loz Wooton: 'Real world' experiences are an L&D trope that we've all heard; finding true learning opportunities for learners by providing situations to apply their learning. I love the idea of learning scenarios, and finding a way to create a dynamic AI tool that actually allows a learner to troubleshoot their way through a common problem that aligns with organisation values and policies.
As a partner of a creative, I do find myself averse to AI in some ways, but it's clear we're only at the beginning of a long path of AI in learning. Something I'd like to see is respectful representation of indigenous learners and cultures in online spaces, built through partnership and relationship and specifically in Aotearoa New Zealand.
2026 is the year L&D gets more intentional. It’s not about chasing shiny new tools; it’s about creating learning that’s faster to build, easier to use, and more meaningful for the people who need it.
Whether you’re rethinking your elearning tech stack, experimenting with AI, or empowering your SMEs to create content, what matters is progress, not perfection.
Learn how Chameleon Creator can help your organisation build beautiful learning, loved by learners by booking a demo today.