Doc's Blog

Designing Learning without Learners: A Vicious Circle

Although “learner experience” as a concept has appeared to some degree in research and publication, it has generally been used to broadly represent learning from a student perspective or as a surrogate for other concepts, such as prior knowledge.

My use of the concept “learner experience” defines a learner-centered approach to the research, design, development, and delivery of instruction in formal education and training as well as more informal and social modes of learning.

Although my emphasis in promoting this practice is with the adult learner whose needs can be readily and reliably articulated from a personal and professional perspective, I believe that this learner-centered engagement in instructional design decisions can extend (with scaffolding) to younger learner populations.

This perspective on learning and learners is meant to be closely aligned with the concepts and practices of User Experience (UX) for software users and Customer Experience (CX) for customers, and accordingly, it deserves its own acronym, LX.

The reason I invoke it is because of my belief that the learner has not received the same attention in the design and delivery of instruction that software users and customers receive through the application of their respective UX and CX disciplines by researchers and practitioners.

Although it has been a hallmark of my professional services at Program House, most of my prospective clients are not initially aware of how I provide it beyond what is described on my Web site.

When I begin to describe and practice learner experience research and design, it is usually understood in terms of user experience and/or customer experience. I find that acceptable to a point, but would like to argue for the use of learner experience (LX) in a manner that has some overlapping function with UX and CX, but also attends to the unique experience of learning and instruction that someone experiences.

In that context, I am interested in how a person’s capabilities, abilities, needs, expectations, and preferences are addressed in the specific role of a learner in the design, development, and delivery of formal instruction and more generalized learning support.

Like UX and CX, the practice of LX as a discipline should consist of learner needs data collection that captures these characteristics of the target learner population on an individual basis, data analysis from which aggregate representations can be made, learner requirements that are balanced with learning provider requirements, and a conceptual design framework that leads to prototyping and acceptance testing prior to development of instructional materials.

Although this parallels the practice of instructional design, what can make learner experience distinct as a practice is the focus and inclusion of the learner as an active participant throughout every stage of design and development.

In many formal educational and training settings, learners are rarely active participants and decision-makers in instructional and curriculum innovations. Instead of striking a balance between a top-down (organizational) and bottom-up (learners, students, etc.) approach, the instructional drivers are typically restricted to administrative and teacher/trainer decisions.

Whereas UX and CX are generally understood and adopted in organizational practice to some degree, the equivalent approach to LX is a non-starter in all but the most progressive and innovative educational settings.

And that’s my proposal here, that Learner Experience (LX) as a concept and practice is elevated to the equivalent place of importance in education and training as its UX and CX counterparts are in their respective domains of practice.

I don’t expect this to be a fast track to adoption because it faces the same resistance that UX and CX have experienced – largely due to its disruptive nature to how learning providers traditionally handle curriculum and instruction.

I am hopeful though, that LX will come to be understood and practiced as a discipline by those professionals who already value UX and CX and are in the position to address certain instructional innovations with learners and their experience as the impetus and driver at the earliest stages and throughout the process of design and development.

Thankfully, that is the case in many situations, such as teachers and trainers whose action research and instructional innovations are centered in their learners’ experience and expectations as articulated by their learners. My greater hope is that this approach is adopted at and above the curriculum level of educational planned change.

I believe that the Learner Experience (LX) approach can help solve many of the intractable problems that have limited educational reform by transforming the traditional top-down approach from a vicious circle where learning is designed without learners involved into a virtuous circle of fruitful dialog between learners and those that support them.

I welcome your comments in reply,

Doc