Learning Experience Design Examples

In this article, we will discuss learning experiences and look at some examples of learning experience design. Let’s dive in.

What Are Learning Experiences? 

A learning experience simply refers to any course, class program, software, or any sort of interaction where learning takes place. Learning experience design focuses on creating targeted and strategic learning experiences to help learners succeed in acquiring certain information and reaching preset learning goals.

 

How to Become a Learning Experience Designer?

What are some common paths toward entering the LXD field? Many individuals end up getting a degree in a field such as instructional design, education, or educational technology. Additionally, people enter LXD through on-the-job introductions to the field or as teachers, professors, and other academic professionals. For example, it is not uncommon for an engineer to be charged with teaching other employees how to perform specific work-related tasks. What that engineer might find is that the experience of teaching resonates strongly with them, leading them into the field of LXD.  

Since LXD is often about leveraging technology to create the most effective learning experience, it’s easy to see how those interested in both education and technology would eventually gravitate towards learning experience design. 

What exactly is included in a learning experience job description? Ultimately, the role will be about designing learning experiences at a specific organization, like a company, nonprofit, school/university, or other kind of institution. Keep in mind that some different learning experience designer skills might be more applicable than others in specific LXD jobs.

While you don’t need to be a psychologist to become a learning experience designer, there are a handful of critical 21st-century skills that are required. Namely, they are:

• • Emotional intelligence and empathy to understand the needs of those you are designing for
  • Curiosity to understand how and why things work
  • A passion for continued learning across several disciplines
  • Experimentation, specifically with different ways of leveraging technology

It is important to consider the emotions of learners when determining how best to serve them. Learning experience design requires empathy for maximum success.

Another reason why emotional intelligence is necessary is because collaboration is key for an LX designer. It’s necessary to be able to speak to peers and stakeholders to improve and iterate on the learning experience. Beyond that, however, LXD often involves working with subject matter experts, or SMEs. Additionally, LXD is done in a team setting, including individuals like

• Learning experience designers
• Project managers
• Technical developers
• Videographers
• Graphic designers

After all, LXD isn’t just about making sure the education is effective; it is about making sure that the learner goes on an intended journey. 

Still, learning experience design can be a lucrative career. According to ZipRecruiter, the average learning experience designer salary ranges from $50,000 to upwards of $130,000 annually. It’s easy to see how becoming a learning experience designer is becoming more popular these days, especially when there are many high-paying LXD roles at high-profile organizations across fields and industries.

What Are the Basic Principles in Learning Experience Design?

At Jackrabbit LX, we believe that well-designed learning experiences, backed by research and infused with creativity, can lead to meaningful transformation and create new opportunities in people’s lives.

As individuals, we’ve benefitted from transformational learning experiences that changed our lives, and we are dedicated to creating that for others. Our design learning experience principles include meeting the learner where they are, making the learning immediately applicable, keeping the learning experience active, providing feedback and reflection opportunities, and creating productive tension. The chart below fleshes out each of these principles in more detail. 

Meet the learner where they are by understanding as much as possible about them	We design interactions and experiences: for the learner’s level of proficiency, immediate needs, and big-picture aspirations. to exceed the learners’ expectations of the learning process. to be useful given the resources the learner already has on hand. to be accessible to the learner in terms of technology and ability.
Make the learning as immediately applicable as possible	We create and provide: opportunities for learners to make their own connections between the content and its applicability in their world.  learning experiences that resonate with learner’s lives, work, and aspirations so we can help them expand the possibilities in front of them. tools, frameworks, and guides that can help them use what they have learned.
Keep the learning experience active	We engage learners by: ensuring they have opportunities to be active in their experience, creating more “lean in” activities, rather than “lean back” viewing. including them in the creation of their own learning process.  giving them opportunities to reflect on their own cognition and empowering them to make choices about their learning along the way.
Provide ever-present feedback and opportunities for reflection	Our learning experiences provide: the learner with a clear understanding of how they are progressing and what they need to do to keep learning effectively. feedback to improve mindset and metacognition, in addition to content and skills. highly varied and, to the greatest extent, personalized feedback. opportunities for self-reflection and feedback on how learning can be transferred.
Create productive tension	Our learning experiences are: in the “Goldilocks” zone between not too difficult and not too easy. challenging in ways that create internal motivation to succeed. story-driven to build narrative tension that increases external motivation.

 

Another LXD principle is the idea of leveraging technology for learning experiences. As technology evolves, learners can now learn in more virtual and immersive environments than ever before. This allows individuals to learn skills for specific environments without actually being in those environments. For example, virtual simulations can help astronauts get prepared in training sessions for space travel. 

There are more learning experience design principles, such as the principle that learning is more of a journey than an event. Learning experience designers understand that learning is not learners gaining specific knowledge or skills, but it’s a continuous journey and often doesn’t progress in just one way. These days, it’s not just about having one-off courses. Many institutions and organizations offer supplemental learning experiences that might look like workshops, seminars, just-in-time materials, or additional educational support of some kind. 

It’s also important to remember that LXD is not just about making sure that people learn, but about creating the most transformative experience possible. The principle here is that if learners have a more positive experience, then they will naturally retain the information or training better than they otherwise would. 

LXD is about a more intentional learning experience where the learner: 

• Understands WHY the material is essential, 
• Feels emotionally motivated to learn the material for specific real-world skills. 
• Hits certain touch points on a learning journey that can help make sure they feel heard and seen. 

While these are only some of the core principles of learning experience design principles, the truth is that new LXD principles are continuously emerging because it’s a relatively new field. While some might be more universally accepted than others, these LXD principles help designers create the most captivating learning experiences possible.

How Jackrabbit Can Help Your Organization Create Effective Learning Expereinces

Jackrabbit LX’s expertise in learning experience design can help you create engaging and inclusive learning experiences. 

Whether you’re starting from scratch, scaling an existing program, or testing a new one, Jackrabbit can help you achieve your learning experience goals. Our learning experiences can promote inclusion, create a more connected company culture, improve worker safety, and also increase revenue. 

Jackrabbit’s 5-phase process enables us to transform your organization and create exceptional learning experiences. We work with you to define your vision of success, prototype, and iterate to refine the design and scale the program for maximum impact. Our team’s experience and expertise in learning experience design, paired with our custom roadmap process, will help you achieve success.

We guide you through the entire process, all the way from concept to execution. Oftentimes, it can be incredibly difficult to think about how to create or improve your learning experience and where to begin as a starting point. We’re experts at finding innovative and unconventional solutions, driving organizational change, and imagining new learning possibilities.

Contact us to find out how Jackrabbit LX can help your organization today!