Whether you are creating an experience that will be small (for example, a social media post or a diagram) or something bigger (such as an entire module of content) you need to plan the steps the learner will go through on their learning journey. You may do this on your own, or work with a teacher or SME (subject matter expert) who specialises in that subject area. You might be familiar with the idea of learning personas or empathy in UX design – put yourself in the position of someone learning something for the first time. What do they need to learn and how should they learn it? How can you use your skills to fix the problem of students not knowing the information they need to know?
Planning your learning journey before you start designing means you can create a learning experience that guides the learner. Remember – you won’t be there to take them through it yourself, so make sure you make it as clear and as easy to understand as possible. As you work on your plan, think about the learning outcomes for the learning experience. What do you want the learner to be able to do once they’ve completed your learning?
In this example, we will look at the learning outcomes for a short course on using Adobe Photoshop. First, we will look at the learning outcomes for the course.
In this course you will learn the basics of Adobe Photoshop.
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
From these learning outcomes we can start to build a structure for the course. The course could look like:
An introduction to Adobe Photoshop. This will cover what the software can do, what kinds of media it is used for and the history that led it to become industry standard software.
Creating and saving files in Photoshop. This will include video instructions on how to create a new file and save an existing file and then open it.
A brief introduction into the different file types Adobe Photoshop can save in and what they are used for.
How to crop images in Photoshop. An introduction to the cropping tool and how it is used.
How to use the blur tool to blur the background in photographs.
How to adjust contrast and brightness in a photograph.
In this example, the learner builds up the skills to be able to work on the next lessons – they learn to create and save a file before they edit it. Think about the skills your learners will need to progress through the learning, and make sure you give it to them as and when they need it.
How could you use this idea when creating your own learning experiences?