It’s not enough to have all the information a learner needsin an eLearning course. It’s not even enough to offer that information in asearchable, mobile-friendly format. Great eLearning must foster great learnerexperiences. That’s why many instructional designers are becoming learnerexperience or LX designers.
LX design is the intersection of several areas of design: instructionaldesign; userexperience design; and user interface and visual design. It embraceselements of designthinking, user-centered,and universal design. Each of these skills focuses on different aspects ofan eLearning module; when all areas are given the proper attention andskillfully honed, the result is engaging, effective eLearning.
Learning experience design retains key elements ofinstructional design while adding new emphasis on the learner. Here’s what thatmeans in practice:
- Instructionaldesigners must consider the specific learning goals, often set by corporateexecutives or learners’ managers. These might include mastery of specificskills or fluency with a body of knowledge. LX design adds an emphasis on howpeople learn—how they apply the knowledge and skills the eLearning conveys.
- A user experience designer is responsible forthe navigation paradigm and the specific actions a learner takes to movethrough a module, including setting the hierarchy of content items anddetermining where they appear. UXdesign covers conceptual aspects of a design, like how people “feel” asthey use a product or website. In the eLearning realm, the UX—user experience—becomesan LX, a learner experience. As such, “LX design in the workplace is concernedwith improving performance and building long-term capacity by enhancingknowledge, skills, and attitudes,” according to ConnieMalamed, a Guild Master and an eLearning, information, and visual designerat The eLearning Coach. Therefore,the methods chosen need to fit the desired outcome—building in opportunitiesfor learners to practice skills, for example, in addition to reading about themor watching someone else do them on a video.
- User interface designers and visual designerscreate the look-and-feel of an eLearning experience; they design the colorscheme, the appearance and function of buttons, the implementation of thenavigation that the UX designer created. In LX design, the user interface andother visual aspects of the design take on a more human-centered focus. Anengaging learning experience must look polished and professional; it also mustbe visually accessible—clear, legible, organized in a logical way, searchable.If learners spend too much cognitive energy figuring out where the neededcontent is or deciphering poorly designed content, they will experience cognitiveoverload before processing the actual learning material.
Creating engaging learning experiences requires blending ananalytical, task- and information-focused mindset—covering the neededinstructional areas—with an implementation that is creative and adaptable to avariety of learners and learner needs. Malamed suggests looking at design-thinking,which encourages designers to consider and test multiple solutions. She callsdesign thinking “anapproach for deeply understanding the audience and their challenges, in orderto generate creative and effective solutions.”
<H2>More than a name change
Shifting from instructional design to learner experiencedesign entails more than a name change; it’s also a shift in mindset. Ininstructional design, the learning goals are primary, and an instructionalapproach is chosen to suit these goals.
While a learner experience might need to meet the same learningobjectives, the increased focus on the learner might dictate more flexibilityin format and instruction method. LX design acknowledges that not all learnerswill reach a goal by the same path. And that they might begin the journey fromdifferent places—some will have foundational knowledge while others arenovices. Or they might need (or want) to do the learning in differentenvironments or using different technologies.
Considering the learner—or, rather, the broad variety oflearners—as well as the learning objectives might lead to plus-onethinking, embracing universal design and the idea of offering learners morethan one way to access information. It could mean curatingcontent and allowing learners greater control in what they learn.
This learner-centered approach to eLearning design anddevelopment meshes with two concepts gaining currency in L&D circles: personalizedand adaptivelearning. Both reject a one-size-fits all approach to training and performancesupport. They can be fully automated or can be driven by learner choices. Designingpersonalized and adaptive eLearning, which both offer content based on eachlearner’s needs, can be as simple as creating branching scenarios, or ascomplex as using an AIalgorithm to figure out a personalized learning path for each individual. Keyelements include:
- Rather than forcing all learners to completeidentical content, content is served based on the learner’s competence level,previous responses, or quiz scores. Alternatively, learners select relevantsections to complete and can skip sections that cover material that they eitheralready know or do not need to cover.
- Assessment is not based on the number of screensor questions completed or time spent but on performance or demonstration ofmastery via assessment of knowledge.
LX design doesn’t limit the L&D team to a singleapproach or to specific formats or platforms for content delivery. It doesallow designers to offer digitallearners a full, rich experience that capitalizes on many skill sets,technologies—and learning opportunities.
Begin the transition to LX design! Join the “Becominga Learning Experience Designer” pre-conference workshop at DevLearn2018 Conference & Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada, October 24 – 26.
