Staci S. Deriso
Instruction & Graphic Design
Exploring new and creative ways to engage learners, enhance retention, and promote development is where I thrive!
About me…
I am a highly sought-after designer with over 27 years experience in the corporate landscape. My journey began as an instructor, where I grasped the significance of learning materials on learners, instructors, and the overall success of training. This insight fueled my personal objectives to develop easily comprehensible, engaging, and visually attractive training materials that contribute to positive business outcomes.
With a keen eye for detail and a passion for creativity, I draw inspiration from others and always ensure that every facet of my designs supports the ultimate learning objective.
My skill set offers me remarkable versatility within the learning and development organization. By comprehending how learners absorb information, the requirements for effective delivery, and the way businesses gauge success, I can think beyond conventional boundaries and design a truly impactful learning experience.
Instructional Design
Leadership Development
A coaching and development program for leadership designed to cater to all levels of management.
Selling Strategies
A strategic selling program centered around consultative selling in the ever-changing landscape of today’s buying trends.
Universal Tech
An innovative training solution crafted to transform 40 hours of ILT into a concise and engaging self-paced training of 2.3 hours.
Graphic Design
ESS Program Branding
Branding for a multi-faceted learning program, including wordmark, sales model, portal, handouts and additional graphics.
Catalyst Branding
Project management and creation of career development program, including branding, portal development, animated videos, and graphics.
Leadership Training
Rebranded learning program with updated imagery, a resource portal, and an interactive eBook for documenting key takeaways.
Motion Graphics & More
Creation of motion graphic videos by script writing, creating and animating imagery, video editing, and audio editing.
Instructional Design Portfolio Details
Leadership Development
Skills:
- High-Level Design Plan (HLDP)
- Competency Assessment
- Needs Analysis
- Focus Group Discussions
- Project Management, Communication, and Collaboration
- Client Engagement
- SME Collaboration
- Content and Portal Development
- L1 Analysis and Reporting
To pinpoint the most crucial areas for coaching development, a focus group for needs analysis was established.
Key performance indicators (KPIs), competencies, insights from both the client and the field, and a carefully crafted questioning strategy were employed to capture strengths and weaknesses.
The focus groups were then invited to engage in discussions about best practices contributing to their success and to provide feedback on areas that could benefit from improvement.
The success of this training program was significantly influenced by the active engagement and collaboration among the client, subject matter experts (SMEs), instructors, and the design team.
The collective pooling of these resources offered comprehensive insights into the requirements of the learning program.
Consequently, the Leadership Development program proved to be highly impactful and received recognition for its effectiveness.
The Leadership Development eBook furnishes learners with the essential learning highlights from the training program. Additionally, it enables participants to jot down notes, providing a reference for what they acquired during the class.
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Note: Links to company resources have been removed from this document.
The Leadership Development resource portal was established to centralize the learning materials, job aids, and supplementary resources associated with the program.
Below are two screenshots of the Leadership portal.
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Presenting the Level 1 (L1) survey results to client leadership not only enabled my team to communicate the success and feedback from each cohort but also facilitated the tracking of the learners’ experience.
Below are examples of the L1 readouts.
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Selling Strategies
Skills:
- Capabilities Assessment
- Key Target Behaviors Alignment
- High-Level Design Plan (HLDP)
- Program Management
- Cross-Collaboration with SMEs, Business Leaders, Trainers, and Designers
- Brand Design
- Instructor-Led Training Development
- eLearning Development
- Video Scripts, Voice Overs, Audio Edits, and Animations
To establish the foundational principles for the Selling Strategies program, we began by identifying the core capabilities and target behaviors of a strategic seller. These were identified through researching the best practices of successful sellers, white-paper reviews, and discussions with sales leaders.
We used the capabilities and target behaviors as the foundation to build Selling Strategies program, ensuring all aspects of the content supported and built upon these principles.
The Selling Strategies program was designed to be adaptable to all segments within the organization. In order to prioritize efficiency and impact of the rollout, the new-to-title content was created first.
This content included pre-work of self-paced learning activities, illustrative video scenarios, instructor-led learning, classroom activities, and an interactive ebook.
The Strategic Selling eBook furnishes learners with the essential learning highlights from the training program. Additionally, it enables participants to jot down notes, providing a reference for what they acquired during the class.
(Select image to open the eBook in a new tab.)
Note: Links to company resources have been removed from this document.
Universal Tech
Skills:
- High-level Design Plan (HLDP)
- Project Management
- Communication
- Brainstorming & Collaboration with SMEs and Peers
- Vyond
- Peer training
- WordPress (Elementor)
My client needed to train their teams on systems and tools to improve customer support, shorten order cycle time, and minimize errors in the order process.
Because the tools were complex, the training method involved more than 40 hours of virtual leader-led training. Despite the instructor’s extensive knowledge, there was low retention of the content, leading to additional training sessions to address the gaps.
After assessing the content, the learner’s environment, and the needs of the business, I created an agile training program that could be modularized and reused for future curriculums.
As the lead overseeing the design and development of this project, I consistently fostered collaboration between the Subject Matter Experts and my design team.
The necessity for a rapid turnaround necessitated adopting a “divide and conquer” strategy. Ensuring the success of each team member was crucial, highlighting the vital importance of open communication and access to the Subject Matter Expert (SME).
To address the diverse requirements of both the client and learners, I developed a training plan encompassing storyboards for video animation, customized graphics, videos, job aids, and simulations.
The storyboard facilitated a smooth transition for team members creating videos, simulations, and job aids. It also offered a concise way for the SME to give final approval.
Click here to view a sample of the storyboard.
Using Vyond, I created animated system demonstrations that explained the steps and provided guidance for completing the order.
Graphic Design Portfolio Details
ESS Program Branding
The Essential Selling Strategy (ESS) program was developed as the core sales approach for all sellers across the organization. To establish an identity for this program, I began by crafting the ESS wordmark.
Subsequently, I designed the sales model to illustrate the necessary competencies for success at each stage of the sales cycle.
After integrating these two elements, I proceeded to create the learning materials, portal, and supplementary graphics for the program.
Tools & Skills:
- Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, & Acrobat)
- WordPress (Elementor)
- Accessibility Compliance
- Brand Compliance
- Brainstorming & Ideation
- Collaborative Feedback
The ESS wordmark was designed to give the program a global identity. Considerations made for this design include accessibility and brand compliance.
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The Sales Model is the nucleus of the ESS program. All components of learning in the program stem from the seven capabilities and the four phase of the sales cycle.
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As the program evolved, additional resources were needed to keep a consistent and familiar look and feel. I created complementary graphics to build the resource portal for the learners, managers, and leadership.
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Throughout the learning materials, I created handouts and resources to further enhance the learning experience. In addition, I provided the learners with excellent support creating concise, visually appealing handouts, and resources that enhanced their learning experience.
These materials reinforced taught concepts and could be used as quick reference guides. My goal was to make the learning journey smooth, engaging, and effective.
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To improve the learners understanding and retention of the content, I use graphics to break down information, increase engagement, and aid learners with disabilities. Visual graphics and key takeaways enhance comprehension and makes the material easier to absorb.
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Catalyst Branding
I was handpicked by leadership to collaborate with a team on developing a career growth program for our internal designers and consultants.
This adventure entailed working alongside leadership to shape the program according to their vision, forming and managing task groups, and constructing the program’s identity and resources to guarantee universal access to the learning activities.
Tools & Skills:
- Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, & Acrobat)
- SharePoint Portal
- Vyond
- Project Management
- Accessibility and Brand Compliance
- Brainstorming & Collaboration with Leadership
The Catalyst program was designed to not only provide our audience with the latest trends, but to also embrace the shared knowledge our peers. I designed the Catalyst logo to represent this collaboration.
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In order to create a hub where learners could learn from and contribute to the resources, I partnered with the project lead to built the learning resource hub using SharePoint.
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In order to address some of the more common grammar mistakes being made, our Editorial team asked that we publish a series of videos to explain correct and incorrect examples.
I used Vyond to create these videos which included voice recordings of our editorial team members and customized graphics.
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Leadership Academy
Leadership Academy is a program that continued to gain traction within the organization. Each year saw an expansion in the number of organizations insisting that their leaders undergo this training.
I was entrusted with the responsibility of adapting the content to meet the specific needs of a particular organization. In doing so, I recognized that a refreshed look and supplementary resources would bolster the program’s efficacy. As a result, I devised a learning portal, an eBook, and personalized content for the learners.
Tools & Skills:
- Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, InDesign, & Acrobat)
- WordPress (Elementor)
- Project Management
- Accessibility and Brand Compliance
- Brainstorming & Collaboration with SMEs and Peers
I worked with our SMEs, design peers, and trainers to determine the simplest design to provide the learning resources to the field. The LA portal has become the centerpiece for the classroom.
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In order to create a hub where learners could learn from and contribute to the resources, I partnered with the project lead to built the learning resource hub using SharePoint.
(Select image to open a sample of the eBook.)
The creation of the eBook and Portal also involved designing new illustrations for the content. I developed fresh graphics to maintain visual consistency throughout the program and convey the most straightforward message for the learner.
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Video & Motion Graphics
Although I have participated in numerous projects, I’d like to draw attention to a few, specifically those involving motion graphics videos.
By thoughtfully blending appropriate graphics, typography, animation, and storytelling, these videos produce a brief yet engaging learning experience, always considering the learner’s perspective.
Tools & Skills:
- Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, After Effects, Premier, & Audition)
- Script Writing
- Vyond
- Project Management
- Accessibility and Brand Compliance
- Brainstorming & Collaboration with SMEs and Peers
This complex material was simplified by a streamlined script and visual graphics to illustrate the content. I worked in partnership with my teammate and the content SMEs to ensure the story being told was precise and properly demonstrated.
I used Illustrator to create the graphics, After Effects to create the motion, and Audition to edit the voiceovers.
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Unity and Techy were the characters I created to teach our Universal Tech audience about them how to submit orders using internal tools. The design of this content converted 40+ hours of instructor led content to 2.3 hours of self-paced content. Vyond was used to create this video series.
(Please wait for the video to load and then press the play button.)
My goal when building this portfolio was to make the user experience easy to navigate, visually appealing, and to showcase my skills as a graphic designer.
To create my portfolio I used WordPress with Elementor.