Students in instructional design (ID) courses typically propose a solution to an instructional problem without a clear understanding of the instructional problem. Often, this type of response is disconcerting to ID instructors. Owing to the way in which the ID process is managed, significant time may pass between design proposal and design review. In this article the author discusses ways to get students to think about the implications of their decisions, while simultaneously moving their decision-making forward. To address this instructional problem, the author, an ID instructor, chose scenarios as a design activity, and used these scenarios to introduce students to instructional problems and ID approaches. The goal is to couple design thinking and reflection more tightly as one designs, keeping the design cycle moving forward. (Contains 2 figures.)