The creation of an effective learning environment is always a challenge, but when the environment is online and the learners are a diverse group of adults in a specialized content area, the challenges become more complex. This best practices study used the intersection of the importance of the learner, Knowles's andragogy concepts, and the Dick and Carey instructional design model to make continuous needs assessment the cornerstone of three, graduate-level online courses during a single summer session. Through the use of recursive needs assessment, the instructor was able to provide a personal and practical level of instruction in the asynchronous courses that ultimately benefited the students.