ROI in L&D technology continues to fall short. According to Josh Bersin’s analysis in Learning Technologies, only 19% of L&D leaders believe their learning technology is fully optimized for employee experience. InSync’s research also found that 71% of instructional designers reported delivery decisions are driven by non-instructional factors such as budget, policy, or technology availability.
This is clear evidence of the ROI gap. Billions invested in platforms, apps, and collaboration software are not producing the results leaders expect. The problem isn’t the technology itself, but the lack of alignment between instructional treatment and learner engagement.
The InQuire Engagement Framework (IQF)™ is a model that explains how emotional, intellectual, and environmental engagement drive ROI in L&D technology. This blog shows how IQF provides the missing link to measurable ROI, and how theInSync Design Navigator™ helps leaders translate it into practice.
For more background on why learner engagement is critical, see our post "Learner Engagement: Why Is It Important?"
Key Takeaways
Instructional treatment in L&D technology is the delivery approach that matches learning objectives with the right method. These methods include knowledge transfer, practice, collaboration, or mindset shift. This is where ROI in L&D technology is either won or lost.
For example, a compliance program delivered through a collaboration platform often fails because the objective requires knowledge transfer and reinforcement, not just chat or discussion. Without the right treatment, even the most advanced platform underperforms.
Instructional treatment is the bridge between design and engagement. To make it work, leaders must also understand what drives learners to connect, persist, and apply what they learn.
The InQuire Engagement Framework (IQF)™ is InSync’s research-based model of virtual learner engagement. It defines three dimensions of engagement that must be present for learning to succeed:
Research shows that engagement is the most reliable predictor of success. In InSync's 2025 research on instructional media selection, 82% of learners, designers, and instructors reported trainings that should have been delivered in a different format. When delivery methods didn’t match objectives, engagement dropped and outcomes suffered. Composite engagement scores were strongly correlated with learner performance and retention, confirming the predictive power of the IQF™ model.
The IQF™ model explains why this happens. If a session lacks emotional safety, learners shut down. If it fails to challenge, they disengage. If the environment is static or passive, participation fades. Engagement is dynamic and each dimension strengthens or weakens the others in real time.
For a practical look at applying IQF™ to inclusivity and accessibility, see "Engagement Strategies for Accessible Virtual Classrooms."
Explore more to deepen your understanding of how IQF™ is applied in practice and why it is central to InSync’s approach to engagement and design:
By applying IQF™, L&D leaders gain a clear way to evaluate whether their designs and the technologies behind them are creating the conditions for learning to thrive.
Launching in 2026, the InSync Design Navigator™ is a research-based tool that translates insights from the InQuire Engagement Framework™ (IQF) into a structured decision-making process. It helps learning leaders align objectives, instructional treatment, engagement, and technology to create more effective, evidence-driven hybrid programs.
Here’s how it works:
Define outcomes and constraints – Capture what learners need to do and the conditions they face
Explore recommendations – Use the Navigator’s decision tables to compare delivery options, ratings, and trade-offs
Select primary and fallback options – Choose the best fit while planning for real-world constraints
Review and share – Summarize decisions for stakeholders with clear trade-offs and rationale
The Companion Guide demonstrates these processes through real-world scenarios, including compliance training, leadership development, onboarding, and DEI initiatives. Each case shows how emotional, intellectual, and environmental engagement needs shape the most effective design decisions.
The InSync Design Navigator™ ensures instructional treatments are never chosen in isolation—they are grounded in engagement science, supported by data, and designed for adaptability in today’s hybrid learning landscape.
Sign up to be among the first to see the InSync Design Navigator™ before it launches in 2026.
For more on how engagement strategies enhance hybrid learning environments, see "5 Facilitation Strategies to Elevate Engagement in Hybrid Training"
Instructional treatment directly affects each dimension of the InQuire Engagement Framework (IQF):
Examples from practice:
With IQF™ as the lens, every instructional treatment decision can be tested. Does it activate emotional, intellectual, and environmental engagement? The Design Navigator™ provides the structure to make those decisions consistently.
Technology in L&D often drives decisions, but this tech-first learning design leaves ROI untapped. Organizations buy platforms and then scramble to fit objectives into them.
The smarter approach is design-first with IQF™. Instructional treatment is aligned with objectives, tested against engagement needs, and only then supported with the right technology.
The results speak for themselves:
This is the path from technology investment to transformation.
For a deeper look at how organizations evaluate their learning mix, read out post "Evaluating Hybrid & Virtual Learning: Defining the Trend"
L&D leaders can follow these steps:
For more on scaling strategies, explore "Scaling Learning: Simplifying Global L&D with InSync."
Learn more about our Managed Learning Solutions and how we help organizations put these strategies into practice.
Only 19% of L&D leaders believe their technology is optimized for learner experience. The gap between investment and impact is clear.
The solution is equally clear: Align instructional treatment with the InQuire Engagement Framework (IQF)™ and use the InSync Design Navigator™ to put that alignment into practice. This is how organizations close the ROI and engagement gap. It turns technology from a sunk cost into a strategic driver of learning success.