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You’re an advocate for digital learning, making learning accessible from anywhere. You think there are a lot of opportunities to use technology to make learning more fun. You know an excellent infographic designer who can turn a dry lesson into an eye-catching infographic. Because it’s 2019, you use AI to build learning apps that don’t need humans to answer learners’ questions or to recommend skills to learn based on learners’ interests.
Yes, we’re all excited about the new tools, but let’s not forget that our digital learners deserve a tailored learning experience. Learners these days expect to get more customized, meaningful, and relevant learning products that meet their needs, address their challenges, and help them learn faster.
This is where a learner experience designer comes in. A learner experience designer is bridge between subject-matter experts (SMEs), learners, and learning content. LX designers not only analyze the profiles of learners, but also they think about how to make learners enjoy the learning process, and turning them into lifelong learners. This learner-centered approach, where learners are given the opportunity to choose what and how to learn, is at the heart of the learning experience design field.
I’ve been designing digital learning experiences for a few years, and I thought I’d pause, reflect, and write down some of the most important lessons I’ve learned. I’d like to share my observations and my design process, as well as some tips that have helped me work more efficiently.
LX process may differ according to the type of learning product you are developing
1. Analysis/Discovery/Needs Assessments
This phase is all about identifying problems and coming up with a solution. A brainstorming session that includes program and product managers, subject-matter experts, stakeholders, and designers is an excellent way to determine whether there is an actual need for a specific training and, if necessary, to learn about the new training goals. You should be asking who, what, why, and how questions to gain insight into the types of training needed.
Gathering information about learners is a critical part of the analysis phase.
1.1 Learners’ Persona: Getting to Know Your Learners
You should gather information about:
• Demographics: Age, language, education, etc.
• Job roles: What are a person’s primary and secondary jobs? For example, a developer might primarily work on front-end development but might also work on back-end tasks when time permits.
• Current knowledge or skill level: Are learners completely new to the concept? Or have they been exposed to it before?
• Environment and media delivery: Try to learn about the setting in which learners will receive their training. Will it be via an online course vs. an in-person training? Will it be self-directed vs. supervised by an organization?
• Time: Will learners have a specified time to learn? Do they have a deadline for finishing the training?
• Facilities and tools: Do learners have the right tools for accessing the learning materials (e.g., the Internet, smartphones, a compatible web-browser, a VR headset)?
An example of how the learner’s goal can be different from the organization’s goal
1.2 Accurately Identifying Goals
After gathering information and uncovering possible learning solutions, you arrive at the most critical step: setting goals and expectations.
There are usually two types of goals for designing learning products: the learner’s goal and the organization’s goal, which is usually set by a program or product manager. The learners’ goals are too often ignored by organizations, which is why organizations sometimes fail to achieve their training goals.
Sometimes organizations and learners aim for exactly the same target, but more often than not, they have different goals and needs. When designing training products, you need to keep in mind that it’s your responsibility to create a training that benefits both, that aligns with the organization’s business goals and with the learner’s personal needs.
But how do we do that?
You should always start with an interview. You should talk to learners about what kind of challenges they are currently encountering, about how they have learned similar concepts or skills in the past, and about what they wish to see in the new learning content. You should do the same for program or product managers, then you should use both sets of answers to create a product that is mutually advantageous. It’s essential to get learners involved early on in the development process so that you can tailor the learning journey to their preferences. Such a personalized, learner-centered approach will drastically increase your odds of creating relevant content.
1.3 Addressing Challenges
"Are there any challenges/constraints/issues that might prevent learners from learning?"
You should ask the organization’s program and product managers this critical question before designing learning content. If learners have no interest in learning the subject matter or, worse yet, if they have a negative attitude about the material, then it will be difficult for them to absorb that information, even if a manager is telling them that it is necessary for continued employment or for promotions.
For best results, you should break up this first phase into two separate sessions. Spacing out the discovery process will help you make good decisions. Taking your time to dig into the real performance goals will yield a more accurate and effective learning strategy.
*Tip: By the end of this phase, you should have an initial project plan that defines the learners’ objectives, outlines the learning content, presents a project timeline, and delineates team roles so everyone has a clear understanding of delivery deadlines.
When you design for learning , it is important to start with a storyboard that describes your learning objectives and techniques. Creating a wireframe will come next.
2. Design
After you’ve developed an appropriate learning strategy, it’s time to design your content. There are a lot of cognitive techniques to break down complex ideas into simpler components. So make sure you look up these techniques and think of ways to apply them to your content. A few points to keep in mind in the design phase:
- Active Experimentation: People learn best when they have a place to practice and reflect on their learning, which is known as “active experimentation” in Kolb’s experiential learning cycle. You don’t need to include every piece of information in a lesson. Instead, let learners discover new concepts through a quick pop quiz. These practice quizzes should NEVER be graded because you want learners to experiment, make mistakes and learn without fear of failure. After the learners have submitted their answers, they should be able to see the right answers with informative feedback.
- Simplify Content: A learning designer should also simplify training content to make it more digestible. Be on the lookout for unclear or complicated phrases, for too many details, for too few details, and for undefined terms.
- Develop Media: Once you’ve finalized the content, you should begin developing your media. My advice is to keep your learning objectives on the top of your storyboard. Every part of your design should contribute to those learning goals. They can also help you eliminate unnecessary details or graphics.
A one-on-one session with experts will help eliminate basic issues in your content before conducting a focus group with learners
3. Prototyping and Implementation
- Review your design with an expert (one-on-one sessions are preferable).
- Explain your goals to the expert before you start the review session.
- Bring a list of criteria to show to the expert that these are the most critical areas on which to provide feedback.
After you’ve designed your content, your next step is to test it out on actual learners.
Prototype Tasks:
☑ Pick a sample audience.
☑ Create an invitation, like this one (what should go into the invite)
☑ Design a few tasks aimed to test the key concepts of your content.
☑ Pick a quiet place that has all the right tools. Provide paper, pencils, water, and light refreshments.
Tips for a Successful Focus Group:
- Secure the location ahead of time. Make sure the projector is connected. Paper, pens, and water should be on the table before anyone enters the room.
- Print your agenda, script, and feedback template, and keep them on your desk.
- Listen carefully to all comments. Stay neutral throughout the session. Don’t justify your design decisions, and take notes of people’s reactions, even if they don’t comment.
- Ideally, you should have three people managing the focus group: a notetaker, an observer, and a mediator. Everyone will have a specific task and area of focus. If you’re alone, you can record the session and take notes (if you record it, make sure to get permission from your attendees at the beginning of the meeting).
- During the session, give learners a few tasks (e.g., turn to Section 2, watch a tutorial, etc.). Then ask them what they think about the video? Did they understand it? Was anything unclear? After they’ve answered your questions, ask them to take a quiz beneath the video and see how well they do.
- After the session, send thank you emails with a link to a survey so people can leave comments or elaborate on the comments they made during the session.
- After you’ve waded through the feedback, step out of your role as a learning designer and read your content as a learner. Think about how you can make it more interesting, then add those final touches.
An example of different ways of following up with learners
4. Follow-Up
Here’s a terrifying fact that keeps learning designers up at night: If learners make no attempt to retain knowledge, they’re likely to forget 90% of what they’ve learned within a month (Read about the “forgetting curve”). Forgetting isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It frees up space in our memory so we can focus on newer information that is important and relevant to our lives today. To make learning more present or implemented in your learners’ behaviors, you need to find ways to nurture the seeds you’ve planted. Follow-up is the key to promoting retention.
There are a few techniques that we can use to keep information vivid. If you’re designing for long-term retention, consider these suggestions:
• Job aids: Give learners printable PDF guides, cheatsheets, and infographics that summarize the learning content or articles that can expand their knowledge bases.
• Memory boosters: Art Kohn has a lot to say about increasing retention of information. Here is a great article.
• Resources: Email your learners links to competitions, conferences, and local Meetup events.
• Workshops: Let learners know about one-on-one mentoring or coaching sessions, if feasible.
Finally, get to know your users by connecting with them via any social platform available to you. If your platform has social features such as discussion forums or comment areas, use them to check in from time to time and get feedback about your content. Don’t forget to send newsletters every month to inform your users about any updates in your learning content, including new courses, articles, and/or workshops.
Remember that your ultimate goal as a LX designer to encourage lifelong learning through your design. Helping someone learn something new will give you a sense of fulfillment, but helping a person learn to love to learn is pure bliss!