Responsible Flash Drive Use: A Key to Data Security
Jason Davenport & Courtney Roberts
Responsible Flash Drive Use: Supporting Secure Employee Behavior
Project Type: Technology Adoption | Cybersecurity Awareness | Performance Enablement
Business Context
Organizations frequently invest in technical security controls, but data security still depends heavily on employee decision-making. This project addressed a common technology adoption challenge: helping users recognize security risks associated with removable media and make appropriate decisions during everyday work.
Business Challenge
Employees often receive technical guidance about cybersecurity without enough context to understand why secure behaviors matter or how to recognize situations that require action. The objective was to translate cybersecurity concepts into practical, behavior-based guidance that employees could apply immediately.
Audience
Employees and professionals responsible for handling organizational data who needed a practical understanding of:
recognizing potential security threats
reducing risky behaviors
responding appropriately to potential incidents
protecting organizational information
My Role
Instructional Designer / Learning Experience Designer
Working in partnership with another instructional designer, I was responsible for:
learning design strategy
content organization
script development
video production
visual communication
module development
iterative review and refinement
Design Approach
Rather than simply presenting cybersecurity policies, we focused on supporting employee decision-making.
Our design process centered on three questions:
What decisions does the learner need to make?
What mistakes are most likely to occur?
What support will help employees make the correct choice in real work situations?
Using those answers, we designed learning experiences that combined instruction with realistic scenarios, knowledge checks, and opportunities to apply concepts.
Development Process
Discovery
Defined the desired business outcomes.
Identified common user behaviors that created security risk.
Organized technical information into learner-centered objectives.
Design
Broke complex cybersecurity concepts into manageable learning segments.
Selected interaction types based on learning objectives rather than technology.
Created visual assets that reduced cognitive load and reinforced key decisions.
Development
Developed interactive Storyline modules.
Produced instructional video content.
Created supporting graphics and animations.
Built scenario-based practice opportunities.
Review & Iteration
Throughout development we maintained regular design reviews, challenged assumptions, incorporated feedback, and refined both content and interactions until the learning experience aligned with project goals.
Collaboration
Because this project was developed by two instructional designers working remotely, success depended on clear communication and well-defined ownership.
We established regular design reviews, divided responsibilities according to strengths, and maintained a shared vision for learner experience throughout development.
Tools
Articulate 360
Adobe Premiere Pro
DaVinci Resolve
Vyond
Adobe Illustrator
ChatGPT
DALL·E
Zoom
Results
The finished solution provided learners with practical guidance for recognizing cybersecurity threats and responding appropriately while reinforcing secure workplace behaviors through interactive learning experiences.
Beyond the final product, the project strengthened my approach to:
collaborating across distributed teams
translating technical information into learner-friendly language
designing for behavior change instead of knowledge transfer
using multiple learning modalities to improve adoption
Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn or explore the course on [Tim Slade's eLearning Community Page]