Our five-step recipe for designing learning experiences that help learners build the right habits, overcome boredom, and do these things in relationship with others.

Design the Perfect Learning Experience in 5 Steps

It can seem as if education is about information alone, since that's the part you can really see.

But it's often much more about building the right habits, overcoming the boredom that stands between us and what we'd like to learn, and doing these things in relationship with others. We don't just need books. We need patterns, frameworks, and people to journey with.

What we need is design. Specifically, Learning Experience (LX) Design. (More on why we need LX.) Today, I'm sharing our five-step recipe for designing the perfect learning experience. We'll use a recent project as a case study.

Last year, Pathwright's LX Team designed courses for Synergy Performance Psychology. Synergy helps teams—in athletics and business—work and grow together in healthy ways. We took their excellent content, and turned it into a transformational journey in the form of an online course.

We had to know who they were teaching. Through our Learner Profile and Blueprinting process, we narrowed the course to focus on businesspeople, not athletes. We also identified that these learners would need to apply what they learned almost immediately. We can't share Synergy's Blueprints, but if you'd like to learn more about this process you can view our templates here: Blueprint template and Learner Profiles template. Or get a simplified view through our How to Design a Path course.

After we identified who Synergy would be teaching, we designed a lesson that fit their learning context. We assessed their material to find out what could be discussed, what information could be turned into something actionable, and where we could get the learners involved with the information.

How could we get learners answering discussion questions or engaging in personal reflection? Synergy's course would be taught by various managers in different business scenarios, so it was important that those managers could work on actionable projects with their subordinates.

Through the process of making an actionable path, we usually uncover content gaps: Questions must be written, projects must be created, and material must change formats.

In Synergy's case, the introduction to their written research needed to be in video format to combat the impersonal feel so common in business training. Learners needed to see the experts who were addressing them so they could feel more invested in the material. We also wrote discussion and reflection questions that meet learners at their current competency level.

Your online course must stay focused and specific to the topic at hand. This happens only if the visuals and content of an online course feel consistent and coherent. For Synergy's course, this meant adding brand-appropriate visuals that could inspire and engage their specific learners.

Ultimately, we created an online learning environment that precisely modeled Synergy's values. Each step pulled the learner deeper into their world.

Our LX Design Team walked with Synergy through each of these steps. Their teaching took on a new, engaging format as a result of our work together. Though they taught the same information, now their learners could act on it and build a community around it. LX Design pays off big when learners come together around empowering, energizing teaching.

Want to team up? Learn more about Pathwright's LX Design services here. 

You can also send questions, comments, or topic suggestions our way on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram or email lydia@pathwright.com. We'd love to hear from you!

Learning has always had the same enemy: distraction. And teachers have always had the same task: to fight distraction with good design. That's more true in the brave new world of the internet...

Why Would a Software Company Design Courses?

Pathwright is not a software company. We're an education company. That might seem like an odd statement; we're known for a software product, after all. But if the internet crashed tomorrow, I like to think that Pathwright would still exist. We would still spend our days dreaming up and designing tools to give teachers superpowers.

Learning—whether offline or online—has always had the same enemy: distraction. And teachers have always had the same task: to fight distraction with good design. That's more true in the brave new world of the internet than ever (who hasn't gone down a wikipedia rabbit trail or found themselves on Netflix instead of MasterClass?).

Learning has always had the same enemy: distraction.

With many former and current educators on our team, our goal is to rethink education in an online context. That's why building a software product isn't all we do. For the past seven years, we've been honing our skills as course designers. We've helped educators turn bundles of writing, videos, questions, and projects into engaging, transformative learning experiences. We call this work Learning Experience (LX) Design.

Because Learning Experience (LX) Design is a relatively new term, I thought I'd take you through each step of our design process, highlighting a few partners we've worked with over the past few years along the way.

Our LX team starts every design project by getting to know learners. We define their aspirations, challenges, and situation, so we can tailor a learning experience to them.

When Princeton Theological Seminary approached us about reimagining their Certificate in Theology & Ministry, we took a day and a half to discover exactly who Princeton was trying to teach. That allowed us to dream up the most effective way to reach them.

Through an exercise that we call "Learner Profiles," we catalogued the particular challenges that faced Princeton's distance learning students. Then, we used what we call a Blueprint to map a plan for a more modular program design.

This planning process led us to design (more about this in the next section) a new kind of online course for Princeton. Instead of listening to hour-long lectures, learners dipped in and out of lecture segments, active readings, and discussions with classmates.

This "lean-forward" approach kept remote learners always on the edge of their seats. We discovered this because we started with a plan.

When we have a plan in place, we test it with prototypes. Our team uses a partner's existing content to build a prototype that we test with real teachers and learners.

Synergy Performance Psychology has spent years leading the way in sports and organizational psychology. Recently, they approached our LX team about taking their organizational leadership training to new heights. Our team designed an interactive learning path out of their static research documents.

. . . technology plus information doesn't necessarily equal learning.

Through our design prototype, we discovered that we could increase engagement through a personal introduction from the researchers themselves. So we wrote and supervised short video introductions for each lesson in Synergy's course.

The result was high-quality research in an engaging, actionable, personal learning path.

Synergy will soon launch their training to over 3,000 learners.

It's probably no surprise that our team can build paths in Pathwright really, really quickly. Once, when a partner was in a pinch and needed changes made quickly to a course over the weekend, we even built and edited over 100 learning steps on an iPhone . . . on an airplane . . . with airplane wifi. We're not messing around.

Here's another example—one of our favorite partnerships. For the past two years, our LX team has worked closely with Reach Out & Read Carolinas to build courses together.

We act as their Path Building team. To ensure every course reaches learners in tip-top shape, Reach Out & Read Carolinas sends their paths to our team. We quickly load their PDF based research into Pathwright, converting it into interactive Blocks along the way and adding discussion questions to better engage their community.

Reach Out & Read has more time to stay focused on being experts in child literacy because we can quickly build engaging, interactive paths for them.

We design courses because technology plus information doesn't necessarily equal learning. In fact, that combo often equals distraction. In each of the cases above, our LX team's mission was to eliminate distraction so learners could be immersed in the learning experience. After all, that's when transformative learning takes place.

The more complex and abundant your learning material is, the more it requires design. And the more distractions at your learners' fingertips—from Facebook to french bulldogs playing with balloons—the more they'll benefit from a planned, designed, and beautifully executed learning experience.

To get a demo and quote from our LX team, visit us here.

The story of the three-point shot and what it has to teach us about why point values matter in an online course.

It’s difficult to imagine basketball without the three-point shot. But before 1967, it didn’t exist. When the American Basketball Association established the three-point arc in 1967, it remade the game.

As the great people at 99% Invisible note, the three-point shot “critically changed the dynamic on the court.” No longer did players amass right under the net, looking to make a surer shot. Instead, shorter, faster players were rewarded for moving outside.

The added diversity and extra value of the three-point shot created the fast-paced, dynamic sport we know today.

To me, the story of the three-point shot parallels why point values matter in an online course. Just as the three-point line changed the landscape of the court, point values in a course create a terrain of value that helps your learners focus.

In short, points send value signals to your learners to help them pay attention. The bigger the learning outcomes and the further we have to travel from point A to point B, the more important it is to understand the value of each learning activity.

Your learners will benefit when they understand what’s intentionally practice and what activities have higher stakes. Varying these point values through the course also gives your learners a chance to relax in certain activities and ramp up efforts in others.

A few factors influence point values. First, I match value to activity. Short readings and videos warrant fewer points. But if a learner contributes to a discussion or writes a reflection, I often double the point value of that step. The increase in points signals that I notice their extra effort.

I also increase points as the course goes on. Early on, assignments carry less weight. Learners should feel comfortable trying new things, making mistakes, and finding out what they don’t know so we can fill in the gaps together.

In other words, lower point values early on signal that learners are in practice mode. Later in the course, point values will match their increased intensity and skill.

The overall effect is an ebb and flow that engages and re-engages learners at every step. With simple value reminders and small feelings of accomplishment along the way, we help learners reach their smallest and biggest goals.

If you’d like to create dynamic, engaging online courses, you can try Pathwright for free.

Like the first page of a novel, your course introduction sets the tone for everything that follows. In a course, the first few steps can give your learners a map of what they’ll learn and the energy to tackle it.

4 Ways to Engage Learners in Your Course Introduction

Like the first page of a novel, your course introduction sets the tone for everything that follows. In a course, the first few steps can give your learners a map of what they’ll learn and the energy to tackle it. Let’s take a look at four ways to introduce a course.

A personal greeting gives your course a friendly feel. This does a lot for engagement, especially when you’re teaching at a distance. Writing works ok for this, but short videos (under a minute) work best. Don’t fuss with fancy equipment. Use a smartphone, simple tripod, and easy-to-use mic. We did this for Intro to Pathwright.

Keep the script simple. Introduce yourself, tell your learners what they’ll cover and why it matters, and tell them you’ll be there for any questions along the way.

If you’re teaching more experienced learners, use the intro to get to know their skill level. For instance, if you teach a class on illustration, you could start with a simple project.

Not only will they take an active hand right away, you’ll get the chance to set more specific goals for their progress.

Discussions get learners involved with you and each other. Try the simple, effective method of asking your learners to introduce themselves or dig a little deeper. For instance, if Malcolm Gladwell were teaching on spending in education, he might ask learners something like this:

This question encourages participation out of the gate. Right at the start, learners invest with you in discovering something new. The question also stirs up some healthy controversy (and the energy that comes with it) that you can channel through the rest of your course.

This is a favorite of mine. A story engages your learners’ imagination in a powerful way. If I were teaching a course on one of my favorite poets, Osip Mandelstam, I’d open with a story about how his wife and friends saved his life’s work from destruction.

This short anecdote sets the stage for all the drama and intrigue inherent in Mandelstam’s work. Hopefully, it would inspire my learners to see how meaningful and important Mandelstam’s work really is.

The best introductions will combine a few of these tactics. Regardless of which you choose, the most essential thing is to communicate your passion for the material and to give a map for your learners to follow. This combo will set the pace for your learners and give them fuel for the journey.

When I tell people about Pathwright, I often hear a version of “man, my university’s software sucks, we should use yours.”

Hating your LMS (Learning Management System) is not an uncommon sentiment. Google “[LMS name] sucks” for pretty much any mainstream LMS, and you’ll find outpourings of ire from students and teachers listing all the ways they’ve been screwed by these poorly designed platforms.

While I wish we could help students dealing with crappy LMSs, the problems with the Higher Ed-LMS market run deeper than poor software design.

Below are a few reason why bad LMSs end up at even the most prestigious institutions.

Most mainstream LMSs were designed with little thought given to the students’ experience. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this out (although it may take one to use the software). This seems like a bizarre choice from the outside since 80–90% of the users of an LMS are students, but it is intentional. Student experience isn’t a top priority to the big LMS vendors because the students are not the ones paying for the LMS!

LMSs are designed for the misinformed 💰people

Imagine a committee (when have committees ever made bad decisions?) composed of administrators, IT people, and the token student and/or teacher. For these committees, due diligence in LMS selection starts with a giant features list (one often found through a Google search or provided by fancy consultants). This list determines the “best” match for them.

I use quotes around “best” because the people helping them make this decision are often aggressive sales staff from LMS companies. As you might imagine, on the LMS side, this leads to an arms race of features— one that plays off the good intentions and fears of the committee.

The committee, with feature-FOMO, throws money at the problem. It’s the LMS that can check all the boxes on the list and that makes the most steakholders (this is a better way to spell it—you know it is)happy that takes the prize.

This leads to LMS software that is a rat’s nest of features that only “power users” can understand. Those features require conferences and time-sucking, on-site training for the primary users (students and teachers) to get any work done. The original committee might even regret their decision, but now they’re trapped by the contract—often a contract that lasts as long as 5 years (light-years in internet time). In the end, this is a losing game for everyone.

So how should universities pick an LMS? Start with the needs of your students and teachers. They are the primary users of the software and unless their needs are being met, you are making an expensive mistake. Below are a few tips for picking an LMS that will serve your school well:

Don’t fall into the money trap. Money won’t necessarily buy you the best software (repeat that 100 times). Also, signing a contract for any longer than one year makes no sense in the modern software world. Don’t do it!

Write a list of features you actually need by talking to the people who’ll actually use the software. You don’t need a pre-made check-sheet or consultant for this. Every university’s needs are different. This will take time and research (but you’re good at research!). The energy will be worth the mistakes it saves you from.

Remember, technology is just a tool. Software alone won’t turn bad teachers into good ones. And teachers are the key. Find software that helps them do their job better and then gets out of their way. They’re the ones helping students learn. And isn’t that why we’re all doing this anyway?

Thousands of teachers use Pathwright every day to design and teach courses to their team, class, or anyone in the world. If you’d like to design a course, we invite you to try out Pathwright for free. You’ve got nothing to lose!

Design the Perfect Learning Experience in 5 Steps

Why Would a Software Company Design Courses?

How Point Values Create Dynamic Courses

4 Ways to Engage Learners in Your Course Introduction

Why Is Your School’s LMS So Bad?

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