Several months ago, just like tens of millions of my closest friends, I jumped on the iPad bandwagon.  Since then, I’ve been trying to justify my purchase – since I’m on a laptop at work all day, and work on this blog and other projects on my home laptop in the evenings.  Don’t get me wrong, I really like it…but truth be told, other than some light web surfing, accessing Evernote and reading with the Kindle app, i hadn’t really come up with a real reason for buying it.  Well, other than the fact that it’s a cool, fun toy.  I know plenty of people who rave about how their iPad has changed their lives, but I just wasn’t there.

Talk about #firstworldproblems, eh?

Then I discovered the DesignJot app for instructional designers.  ID has never been my primary focus, as I’ve always spent more time facilitating, but I do develop plenty of content – particularly for instructor-led workshops and courses for the day job and for independent projects.

Ermagherd.  This app is terrific!  It has transformed the way I do Needs Analysis into a more thorough, consistent process.  It has really helped me consider the audience, needs, background and desired results more effectively.  The app provides a number of standard questions, yet allows inclusion of your own discovery questions that might be relevant for your organization.  You can sketch.  You can storyboard.  You can use it to interview clients and SMEs.

Two enthusiastic thumbs-up.  For $4.99, it’s a steal.  Download it. Now.  You won’t be sorry, designer brethren.

Your turn:  Have you used DesignJot?  What do you think?  What about other iPad apps…what are your must-haves?

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