Infopro

Learning

CREATE LEARNING
PROGRAMS EXPERIENCES
Guide to Learning Experience Design (LXD)
+ 7 LXD Best Practices
A Few Words From the Author

No Matter How Good the Content,

The Learning Experience Is Critical

For much of my career I have developed web products. In the early days of web design, usability and the user experience were very
poor, but no one seemed to notice because there was nothing to compare it to. It was all new and ground breaking.

But If you were to visit a website right now that was designed in 1998, the website that was once cutting edge is now archaic and
unusable. Web products have improved so much in user experience that websites from just several years ago feel like claustrophobic
digital prison cells. I feel the same way about Corporate Learning today. I find that compared to all the refined user experiences
people have access to (Websites, Apps, Smart Phones, Smart Tvs, ect.) corporate learning feels like a website designed in 1998. The
content and instructional design might be spot on, but the design just doesn’t do it justice.

I wrote this white paper to help share some of my experience from web product development with learning and development. I
believe that no matter how good the content, the user experience heavily affects the learner’s journey, and corporate learning and
development needs to learn from other disciplines to design better learning experiences.
Sundeep Singh Pardal
AVP UX Designs & Multimedia
“Clutter is a failure of design, not an attribute of information.”
Edward Tufte
THE FAILURE OF Corporate training has a bad rep, and for a reason. How many
cluttered overloaded PowerPoint presentations have we asked
CORPORATE learners to sit through?

TRAINING How many hour long monotone webinars can they endure before the
entire thought of corporate training makes them groan?

I believe Experience Design in learning is an obvious

truth that is going unaddressed - a problem that no one
wants to discuss within Learning Environments, where
learners need it more than ever.
The design of learning solutions and interactions historically has
been driven by what we thought worked… with little to no thought on
how the learner would perceive it.

Infopro
Learning

4
“The brain remembers the emotional component of an experience better
than any other aspect.”
John Medina
LEARNER A contributing factor to the failure of THE LEARNING HIERARCHY OF NEEDS MODEL
corporate training is that traditionally Bottom to Top
EXPERIENCE corporate learning focuses on tasks, SUBJECTIVE / QUALITATIVE

HIERARCHY OF not experiences. focused on

EXPERIENCES
NEEDS This is a basic learning program maturity
(People, Activities, Context)
cycle:

What is the program?

What features are we covering?

Is the program functional?

MEANINGFUL
Has personal Significance
Is the program reliable?

Is the program useful? PLEASURABLE

Memorable experience work sharing

Is the program convenient…

CONVENIENT
Super easy to use, works like I think THIS IS THE “CHASM” THAT IS DIFFICULT
At that point very few organizations can cross FOR ORGANIZATIONS TO CROSS
USABLE
the chasm from task to experience focused. Can be used without difficuty

The resulting learning program or training may RELIABLE

Is available and accurate
be useful and reliable, maybe even usable and
somewhat convenient, but it is not pleasurable, FUNCTIONAL (USEFUL)
Works as programmed
nor is it meaningful.

focused on
TASKS
(Products, Features)
OBJECTIVE / QUANITATIVE

Infopro
Learning

6
LEARNER To create exceptional learning THE LEARNING HIERARCHY OF NEEDS MODEL
programs, focus on the experience Top to Bottom
EXPERIENCE instead of tasks. SUBJECTIVE / QUALITATIVE

HIERARCHY OF On the other hand, a top to bottom focus starts

focused on
EXPERIENCES
NEEDS with the experience you want learners to have;
(People, Activities, Context)
pleasurable and meaningful learning
experiences.

If you want to create a revolutionary product,

you must think beyond basic functionality,
usability, and convenience. You must think MEANINGFUL
Has personal Significance
about what kind of experience you want your
learners to have when using your PLEASURABLE
Memorable experience work sharing
product/courses.
CONVENIENT
Super easy to use, works like I think THIS IS THE “CHASM” THAT IS DIFFICULT
FOR ORGANIZATIONS TO CROSS
USABLE
A Word of Caution Can be used without difficuty

RELIABLE
When focusing on the learner experience, do Is available and accurate
not forget the basics of usability and design.
Starting from the top with experiences can also FUNCTIONAL (USEFUL)
Works as programmed
create a chasm at convenience. A meaningful,
pleasurable, convenient learning that is not
useful, reliable, or functional will not lead to
increased performance.
focused on
TASKS
(Products, Features)
OBJECTIVE / QUANITATIVE

Infopro
Learning

7
“What is design? It’s where you stand with a foot in two worlds — the world
of technology and the world of people and human purposes — and you try
to bring the two together.”
Mitchell Kapor
WHAT IS LEARNING The process of designing desirable human experiences, regardless
of purpose or platform, is centered around achieving a desired
EXPERIENCE outcome with as little friction and with as much joy as possible.

DESIGN (LXD)? In the product development field this is called User Experience
Design.

User experience design (UX, UXD, UED or XD) is the process of

enhancing user satisfaction by improving the usability, accessibility,
and pleasure provided in the interaction between the user and the
product.

User Experience Design is not new in the market, and is critical for
organizations who are serious about delighting and engaging
customers.

What is the difference between User Experience Design (UXD) and

Learning Experience Design (LXD)?

I believe Learning Experience Design (LXD) shares many

attributes with User Experience design (UXD), and
differs in just one key aspect — the user, or as in this
case, the learner.
LXD is the application of UX design principles of usefulness,
usability and desirability to create engaging learning activities.

LXD is about designing a UI which supports and enhances

learning outcomes.

LXD keeps learners at the core of the experience and all cognitive
elements are designed to enhance learner’s retention and
application of the concepts.

Infopro
Learning

9
LEARNING EXPERIENCE DESIGN (LXD)
At Infopro Learning

Here at Infopro Learning, we believe that Learning Experience Design (LXD) is a combination of
instructional design, pedagogy, neuroscience, social sciences, marketing, user interface design,
user experience and interaction design, and is critical for any organization looking to succeed in
Interaction Information
the growing digital eLearning space.
Design Architecture
The Learning Experience Team at Infopro Learning provides global organizations an edge over
the competition by focusing holistically on the learner, learner’s role (Sales, CRM, Technical,
Quality), environment and learner’s behavior. This holistic approach produces learning
experiences that are usable, engaging, delightful and memorable.
Content Visual
Strategy Design

LXD
User
Functionality
Inferface

Typography Usability

Infopro
Learning

10
“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”
Steve Jobs
7 LXD BEST PRACTICES 01 02 03 04 05 06 07
CREATE AN UNDERSTAND FOCUS ON UNDERSTAND START WITH BE TEST
From Inforpro Learning LXD PLAN YOUR MOTIVATION DESIGN WIREFRAMES CONSISTENT EARLY
LEARNERS CONSTRAINTS
Both Learning Experience Design (LXD) and User
Experience Design (UXD) focus on creating amazing
experiences, so LXD borrows some of its principles
from the UXD toolbox — and why not? Today in this
ever-changing digital world learning and user
experiences occur in digital spaces among multiple
touchpoints, from games to websites to apps, often
overlapping and intertwining.

These are 7 best practices we use to create

stunning learning experiences:

(Click on a Section or Scroll to Read More)

12
LXD BEST 02 03 04 05 06 07
PRACTICES UNDERSTAND FOCUS ON UNDERSTAND START WITH BE TEST
01 YOUR
LEARNERS
MOTIVATION DESIGN
CONSTRAINTS
WIREFRAMES CONSISTENT EARLY

CREATE AN LXD PLAN

Directly jumping into visuals or UIs without a plan of
action or without understanding the goals and user
needs will lead to poor results and a waste of time and
effort at every end.

Make an LXD plan which involves:

Visual Design Strategy

Interface Design

Usability Testing to validate the Design

13
LXD BEST 01 03 04 05 06 07
PRACTICES CREATE AN FOCUS ON UNDERSTAND START WITH BE TEST
LXD PLAN 02 MOTIVATION DESIGN
CONSTRAINTS
WIREFRAMES CONSISTENT EARLY

UNDERSTAND
YOUR LEARNERS
Learners are real people who are performing specific
roles in your workplace. To create meaningful learning
for them:

Understand their roles, such as Sales, CRM,

Marketing, Technical, Quality etc. and make note of
the knowledge and skills that are required to deliver
effectively in their roles.

Observe their everyday life (how many times they

check emails, how frequently they use their
smartphones) and create a LXD focused on these
experiential aspects.

Create learning experiences which help your

learners perform their roles better in the way they
learn every day.

14
LXD BEST 01 02 04 05 06 07
PRACTICES CREATE AN UNDERSTAND UNDERSTAND START WITH BE TEST
LXD PLAN YOUR
LEARNERS
03 DESIGN
CONSTRAINTS
WIREFRAMES CONSISTENT EARLY

FOCUS ON MOTIVATION
Motivation is the key for the learner to energize, direct,
learn and gain from the course. LXD should focus on
unleashing the intrinsic motivation of the learners by
including elements such as:

Intuitive storytelling

UIs which are simple, clean and understandable

Learner driven experiences (such as “Press the

button to record feedback” instead of just putting
up a text box)

15
LXD BEST 01 02 03 05 06 07
PRACTICES CREATE AN UNDERSTAND FOCUS ON START WITH BE TEST
LXD PLAN YOUR
LEARNERS
MOTIVATION 04 WIREFRAMES CONSISTENT EARLY

UNDERSTAND
DESIGN CONSTRAINTS
Before embarking on any LXD process understand the
design constraints such as:

Budget – A fantastic LX design plan for a learning

app but the budgets do not permit it.

Time – A good LXD may require certain man hours

but as it is always, the course needs to be
launched in four weeks.

Reverse-Compatibility – Requirement to match

current content to old content in terms of use of
images, audios, videos etc.

Technology – Sometimes there is technical

architecture which prevents the use of certain
features which might be important from an LXD
perspective.

16
LXD BEST 01 02 03 04 06 07
PRACTICES CREATE AN UNDERSTAND FOCUS ON UNDERSTAND BE TEST
LXD PLAN YOUR
LEARNERS
MOTIVATION DESIGN
CONSTRAINTS
05 CONSISTENT EARLY

START WITH WIREFRAMES

Don’t spend too much of time creating a detailed User
Experience (UI) in the first instance. Instead, create
low fidelity UI wireframes which can be changed easily
and without too much cost.

Low fidelity UIs serve the purpose of a learner

experience without putting too much focus on the
visual design aspect.

17
LXD BEST 01 02 03 04 05 07
PRACTICES CREATE AN UNDERSTAND FOCUS ON UNDERSTAND START WITH TEST
LXD PLAN YOUR
LEARNERS
MOTIVATION DESIGN
CONSTRAINTS
WIREFRAMES
06 EARLY

BE CONSISTENT
Inconsistent and Incoherent learning experiences lead
to cognitive overload. Ultimately impairing your
learner’s ability to meet learning objectives.

Keep the UI and Visual design simple and consistent.

For Example:

If a Start or Go button is positioned at the center

bottom of the screen it should appear at the same
place for each sub-topic. It would also make sense
to look at usability guidelines for such on screen
elements.

Similarly, if the image description is placed at the

bottom of the image, it should consistently appear
there.

Maintain similar formatting throughout the screens

as any unnecessary change in formatting can take
the attention away from the learning content.

18
LXD BEST 01 02 03 04 05 06
PRACTICES CREATE AN UNDERSTAND FOCUS ON UNDERSTAND START WITH BE
LXD PLAN YOUR
LEARNERS
MOTIVATION DESIGN
CONSTRAINTS
WIREFRAMES CONSISTENT
07
TEST EARLY
Even with all the right LXD elements, a learning course
may fail to create the desired learning experience.
Therefore, it is extremely important to test learning
courses with a group of actual learners as part of the
usability testing. When testing:

Collect data and analyze the results to see whether

learners can complete the intended learning
objectives.

Ask questions like “Did you enjoy the overall

learning process”?

Continue to test post-launch for effectiveness and

continual improvement. Testing should not stop
even after a course is launched.

Note feedback and use it to avoid future LXD

issues with other courses.

19
 “Learning experiences are like journeys. The journey starts where the
learning is now, and ends when the learner is successful. The end of the
journey isn’t knowing more, it’s doing more.”
Julie Dirksen

16
It’s the Journey not the Destination
LXD is never over. There is a need to constantly observe the learner’s behavior in their actual
work environment to design the best learning experience for them. Use these best practices
and tips to reinvigorate your learning and development courses, and create pleasurable
learning experiences, not programs.

Contributors to this Paper

Lead Author: Sundeep Singh Pardal
Production and Design: Sundeep Singh Pardal, Sandeep Dogra
Editorial: Robert Velasquez

Infopro
Learning

103 Morgan Lane, Suite 102, Plainsboro , NJ 08536

21
About Infopro Learning
Infopro Learning’s Mission is to make organizational learning a competitive advantage for its
customers by delivering modern learning experiences that improve employee performance. As
a full-service L&D outsourcing company, we have been solving the biggest learning, training,
and performance improvement challenges for over 20 years.

We make two key promises to our customers: meaningful learning experiences, and
measurable performance transformation. Learning experience design is how we live up to that
first promise, and our strategy that focuses on the end result is how we use meaningful
learning experiences to achieve our second promise.

If you want to engage your learners with learning programs that are designed to increase
business results and deliver meaningful experiences, we’d love to hear from you.

Contact Us
Visit: www.Infoprolearning.com
Call: (609) 606 9984
Write: info@infoprolearning.com

© 2017 Infopro Learning. All rights reserved.

22