My name is Sarah Mottaghinejad.

As a voracious learner, avid story-gatherer, and ridiculously curious human, I combine a mix of creative, analytical, and interpersonal skills. I am meticulous about quality, pragmatic in getting things done, a dreamer when taking a step back, and strategic when achieving business impact. I act quickly and thrive where I work cross-functionally to solve complex problems, creating clarity out of chaos. My most fundamental passion is helping others, and that is what has kept me in the learning experience design field for the last 19 years.

I’m driven by the quest for measurable learning impact. The Kirkpatrick Levels of Learning Evaluation, Cathy Moore’s Action Mapping, and the First Principles of Instruction by David Merrill make up the books in my Learning Experience Design bible. What I love about these texts is that they help ensure that whatever learning experience is devised by the designer is going to be engaging, authentic, and worth every penny spent. The emphasis on environmental factors, motivation, and reinforcement for behavior change, rather than merely training, turns learning experience designers into valuable business advisers. It’s no longer about making some monolithic eLearning because someone said to. It’s about advocating for what is best for both the business and for learners.