To truly understand Learning Experience Design, let’s travel back in time to the early 1940s. The United States has just entered World War II, and thousands of workers have enlisted to serve their country, but lack important skills. Men and women assembling planes in factories or shipping out to the warfront must learn complicated tasks, as quickly as possible. This was the start of Instructional Systems Design (ISD). Learning theorists at the time combined their understanding of education and psychology to create focused training materials ensuring the workers would be ready to solve complex problems and accomplish their goals.

For many years, Instructional Systems Design was the gold standard in learning development, as it emphasized measurable results. Instructional designers would methodically analyze the needs of learners, and design training to ensure those learners could meet pre-set objectives.

Fast forward 80 years. Designers still systematically analyze instructional needs and design learning to meet those needs, but by incorporating best practices from the field of User Experience, Instructional Systems Design has evolved into Learning Experience Design (LXD). LXD takes a more human-centric approach to learning unlike the content-driven nature of ISD. While both ISD and LXD focus on sharing knowledge to reach a desired outcome, LXD is more about how learning occurs rather than simply the process of delivering it. Officially, the definition of Learning Experience Design is the process of creating learning experiences that enable the learner to achieve a desired learning outcome in a human-centered and goal-oriented way.

LEARNING
There are countless ways to learn, and everyone does it differently. A clear understanding of this principle guides both instructional and learning experience design. Each design philosophy is goal-oriented, but LXD takes a more active approach. If a learner is active, they’re having an experience. Niels Floor, who many see as the father of Learning Experience Design, said it best: You cannot learn without experience and you cannot experience without learning.

But what do these experiences look like?

EXPERIENCE
Think about the last time you embarked on a big adventure. Did you plan the trip as merely the quickest way to get from Point A to Point B? Or was it made up of dozens of tiny experiences that gave you a greater understanding of the world around you? Everything is learned through some type of experience. This is the basis for experiential learning, a guiding tenant of LXD.

A few decades ago, learning experiences were confined to a classroom, but advances in technology have created environments ripe for new and exciting learning.

But how do LXDs build compelling experiences while ensuring learner needs are met?

DESIGN
This happens through careful and creative design. Designers create with a specific audience or target in mind. Much like multimedia or user experience designers, LXDs focus on developing thoughtful and creative designs for a target audience. However, their goals are slightly different. When designing learning experiences, the focus is on using the best medium and technology, based on the overall project goal.

THE LXD PROFESSIONAL
LXD can take many forms. Schools, colleges, and universities employ learning experience designers to develop curriculum for students and teachers alike. However, LXD professionals can also be found working in the private or public sector, government agencies, healthcare organizations or non-profits. What these places have in common is the desire to share knowledge in all sorts of innovative ways. Wherever they land, most LXDs have a background in education or instructional design, and have a clear understanding of how people learn, and how to develop content to best suit their needs.

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED!
When targeted objectives are combined with experiential learning, and good design, you can build something remarkable. While the output of LXD is always different, the goal remains the same: to ensure learners have gained a new understanding of any topic imaginable.

WHAT’S NEXT?
Learning is like a puzzle – there are many different pieces involved in creating great content. Learning Experience Design is fun because it takes all the same puzzle pieces to create something new to spark understanding. If you’re interested in learning more about this exciting field, we’re planning a deep dive on LXD over the next few months. Join us as we investigate topics in the world of LXD, focused on both learners and designers.  Check back often to learn about all things LXD, and feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!