Putting the X into L

Forget bite-size learning; it’s time to go XL: design with the eXperience of the Learner in mind.

I’ve blogged a few times about user experience (UX) design and how important this is to anyone making anything for other people to use; particularly when it comes to creating stuff that is designed to help people perform at work. Learner Experience, or LX, is part of this growing trend for being more audience-focused. It’s a more specific version of UX design, but the principles are the same. This is one bandwagon I don’t mind people jumping on: it can only make things better for users, right? 

There are a few simple things we can do to make sure our learners/users are at the heart of everything we do: exercises like card sorting, user observation & learner journey mapping. Even just asking good questions, listening and having meaningful conversations about what people need help with and how they do things at the moment is a start.

 

Image: guycookson.com

 
This is a useful presentation that’s packed with practical things we can do to improve the Learner Experience.

Being a learner experience designer starts with a commitment to the user: a focus on crafting experiences that are useful, simple, delightful, seamless & helpful. If that’s our starting point, we’re on the right track to making a difference. 

Let’s commit to using LX design as a way to go beyond traditional learning and towards something that really helps people.