Designing Learner Experiences: Authentic, Personalised and Interactive Design
As artificial intelligence becomes a part of your design process, it’s shaping how we learn and interact with information. It’s a call to action for LX Designers to reimagine how we create experiences; it’s no longer about traditional reading, or passively watching a video, it’s about engaging with content in a way that is authentic, personalised, and interactive. As you design for current and future students, it’s integral to consider what information they engage with and how they interact to inform your design. The three examples below are experiences I am sharing with you, and I invite you to think about how people around you are engaging with content and rethink how you design.
Authentic Design
As we navigate the shifting currents of technology in education, the call for authenticity in LX Design has never been louder. Institutions such as Queen Mary University and The University of Texas are redefining what this means, blending the expression of artists like Taylor Swift with the timeless wisdom of classic texts. In an article in the conversation earlier this year, why Taylor Swift belongs on English literature degree courses, it highlighted that whilst the role of pop culture in education is not new, the lyrics from Taylor Swift can frame the same conversations about how a popular form can take on literary value as Shakespeare. This approach highlighted the need to look for current references, a curriculum that not only resonates with the here and not but also remains true to the essence of literature’s reflective and formative role in society.
Personalised
I recently found myself captivated by the sheer brilliance of Harry Mack, who tailors his lyrics in real-time to reflect the immediate environment and audience feedback. As LX designers, we can apply similar principles to personalise the learning journey. This enables you to create experiences that adapt to the interests, needs and feedback of students, much like how Harry Mack crafts his performances based on live input. By integrating a personalised journey, each student’s educational path becomes uniquely suited to them, enhancing engagement and deepening their connection to the learning process. This approach ensures that learning is not a one-size-fits-all experience but a tailored adventure that mirrors the diversity of learner backgrounds and aspirations. But, how do you design for this effectively? How might we implement this without AI, or better yet, how could we leverage AI to enhance these experiences?
Interactivity
When designing, I always ask, ‘what is the learner going to do?’ It is crucial to ensure the experience is interactive itself, but what about within each of the activities? When does the learner take the lead in determining their pathway? Interactive experiences like those offered by Netflix’s ‘You vs. Wild’ show the interactive potential within educational frameworks. In this example, viewers guide Bear Grylls through different landscapes with a simple click; making decision-driven journeys along the way. The learner chooses the pathway based on their experience, their knowledge, or what pathways they would like to travel. How can we effectively adopt this approach to empower students to actively engage with content, making each pursuit relevant for the learner? Whilst you can create branching scenarios, how might we leverage AI to build these experiences at scale?
Why Does this Matter?
There are many approaches in LX Design, but one thing is clear, whilst the underpinning principles are the same, we have technology available to ensure the experiences are not one-size-fits-all but a dynamic, and interactive experience. If you consider what learners are experiencing day to day, we must embrace these principles in our LX Design. As we continue to evolve, we must leverage technology and recent developments to build the best experiences for our learners.
