Design Plus

DesignPLUS is a powerful, easy-to-use Canvas plug-in designed to help faculty and instructional designers efficiently create high-quality, accessible, and visually appealing course content—no coding required. It simplifies the process of building and formatting pages, adding interactive elements, and embedding media, all while supporting a variety of layout options that enhance student engagement and minimize distractions.

With DesignPLUS, you can ensure a consistent design across courses, which helps reduce cognitive load and supports better learning outcomes. Its intuitive tools make it easier to maintain visual and structural coherence throughout your curriculum.

A standout feature is the Multi-Tool, which automates module setup by generating all associated components—pages, discussions, quizzes, and assignments—in a single step, saving valuable time during course development.

Accessing DesignPLUS

You can access DesignPLUS from the rich content editor in Canvas. With the editor open, look for the rocket ship icon in the top right corner of the page. If you don’t see the rocket ship when in the editor, try one of the following key combinations to open DesignPLUS.

1. Alt-Shift-D (PC)
2. Option-Shift-D (Mac)
3. Ctrl-1

Resources

1. UK Online DesignPLUS Video Series
   A YouTube playlist of videos created by UK Online to help you get started with DesignPLUS.
2. DesignPLUS User Guide
   Hosted by Cidi Labs, the maker of DesignPLUS, this resource has general information, tool-specific guides, screenshots, and release notes.
3. Canvas Instructor Video Orientation
   Self-enroll in this UK Canvas course to access a DesignPLUS module with a curated collection of videos produced by Cidi Labs.

Need Help

Help for DesignPLUS is available directly within the DesignPLUS sidebar. 

For general support, look for the question mark  icon in the top toolbar. 

For help with a specific feature in DesignPLUS, you can click the + button to add an element to the page. With the newly added element selected, click on the question mark icon to see a description of the element. The bottom of the description may also include a link to the Cidi Labs User Guide page specific to this element.

If you would like to schedule a consultation with one of our instructional designers or ask UK specific questions, you can email us at elearning@uky.edu.