An Interactive Course Organizer (ICO) is an artifact that contains text and visual representation of a traditional course syllabus, it integrates visual elements, such as timelines, drawings, charts, graphs, maps, or pictures to show the sequencing and organization of major course topics while offering the user an actively controlled progression of the amount of course information covered. The goal of this research was to develop a theoretically- and empirically- grounded guidelines to design and develop of ICOs. It is anticipated that these guidelines can assist course developers and instructional designers in designing ICOs. This study employed a design and developmental research methodology with four phases: analysis, design, development and validation. Findings from literature review investigations in course syllabi, instructional message design, visual literacy, and interactivity theories and research as well as expert review informed the building of the guidelines.