10 Things You Need To Know About LX Design

There are many different principles and frameworks to design for the use of technology but it can sometimes be hard to get started. Before you get started with LX Design, here are 10 things that I have discovered as part of my journey.

1. Digital transformation can be hard

   When you are facilitating a digital transformation; you are challenging embedded beliefs around learning that have been in organisations and educators for years, if not decades. Previous experiences with technology, lack of support and knowledge can provide a negative foundation and unwillingness to accept new ideas. It is important to understand that you are a facilitator to change this mindset so don’t take it personally.

2. LX Design is not a linear process

   Unlike other frameworks such as ADDIE, LX design is not a linear process but rather an iterative process that merges different frameworks at different parts of the process. There is constant problem solving along the way and it is important to be okay with not having all of the answers from the outset.

3. Get to know your Learner

   Empathising with your learner is crucial in this process as you need to understand their characteristics; motivation for studying: what will keep the learner going?; any pain points they may experience; and what their career requirements and/or aspirations may be by completing this course. By developing personas, you will challenge your assumptions and biases and be able to design for different types of learners that are specific to your context.

4. Map the whole Learner Experience

   Once you know who your learner is, it is important to map the whole experience. Ask yourself:

   • What are the learning outcomes?

   • What are the skills they need to achieve these?

   • What do the learners need to know?

   • What do the learners need to do to demonstrate their knowledge?

   • How can you create authentic experiences?

   • How does this apply to the real world?

5. Constantly ask ‘what’ and ‘why’ to create meaningful experiences

   By asking ‘what’ the learner is doing, you are ensuring you are designing an active experience for learners rather than a passive one. By asking ‘why’, you are aligning the content and activities to the outcomes, and if you can’t answer why they are doing it, then it probably should be omitted.

6. Don’t be solutions’ focussed

   Too often we have a preconceived idea of what a course is going to ‘look’ like, what resources we are going to use and what technology we are going to implement. As an LX Designer, it is your responsibility to consider the learner, the experience, what you want to achieve, and how this can look. Through your evaluation, you will be able to determine what this will look like and how it can be achieved.

7. What technology do you already have access to?

   Within organisations, there is already a lot of technology that you will already have access too, you may just not know about it. If you have support resources, use them, ask what technology is available. This includes the Office or Google suite, there are many different applications within these suites so get familiar with them. Once you know what is available, I recommend evaluating what you want to achieve against the technology you have access to so you are maximising it's use.

8. Avoid assumptions

   Don’t make assumptions that learners will know how to effectively use the technology (this includes educators). You need to provide adequate support and resources for the use of different technology for the specific context.

9. Seek feedback from a critical friend

   Once you have designed a course, share it via an ‘elevator pitch’ with a critical friend to get their feedback on the design. List their questions and iterate your design making informed decisions as to whether you will be able to address their questions through your design. Although this can be challenging to do with a friend, remember it is a constructive exercise and if your ‘critical friend’ has questions now, it will probably come up from a learner so be sure to run it through with at least one other person.

10. Learning analytics count

    Regardless of the technology you are using, it is crucial to understand what data you can get from it. In doing so, you can design interventions, provide support and extension based on the data. This will then inform your recommendations for the next iteration of the course; what worked, what didn’t, where there are further opportunities, and what can be enhanced for the next iteration.

I am sure there are many other things you have learnt, so be sure to share them with eachother. Don’t forget; there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ but rather a right way for you, so be sure to create your own principles based on your experience. In my next post, I will share with you ways in which you can create this digital transformation in the real world.