I have been contemplating learning experiences for as long as I can remember. When I was in grade school, I would line up the folding chairs we stored in our garage and arrange them into a make-believe classroom. Imagining myself as a teacher, I'd deliver pretend lessons on the old-school chalkboard my dad had salvaged when his college renovated its classrooms with fancy new whiteboards—ah, the '80s! Sometimes, I would recruit my friends to fill the chairs as pretend pupils—that is until they wanted a turn to play the role of the teacher. Most days, the chairs sat empty, but I was undeterred.
Little did I know then that this child’s play would be my first foray into story-based learning. Here I am, forty-something years later, still envisioning how to create engaging learning experiences—this time for real learners and, as you will discover in this post, sometimes still for the “imaginary learner,” also known as the “learner persona.” Now, I rely on evidence-based research and practices to inform the design decisions I make. Yet, most days, I still enjoy it as much as my ten-year-old self did back in my childhood garage.
In this post, I'll guide you through the current landscape of learning experience design (LXD). We'll explore prominent scholarship, various "based-learning" strategies, and practical examples from my own experience. Hoist the sails—our journey begins!
In her book “Learning Experience Design Essentials,” Cara North (2023) outlines both core and applied Learning Experience Design (LXD) capabilities that are crucial for effective practice in the field. According to North, the core LXD capabilities include research, needs assessment, relationship management, learning science, and facilitation. These foundational skills are essential as they underpin all other capabilities in LXD practice, providing the necessary groundwork for creating impactful learning experiences. As practitioners advance their expertise in these core areas, they can effectively address the applied capabilities, which are categorized into seven distinct areas: experience design, accessibility and inclusion, project management, measurement, learning technologies, content design, and knowledge management (North, 2023, pp. 29-34). North asserts that while these applied capabilities are not typically suited for novices, specializing in any of them can lead to a robust and successful career in learning experience design. Mastery of both core and applied capabilities allows practitioners to integrate theoretical principles with practical strategies, enhancing the overall quality and effectiveness of learning interventions.
In Chapter 2, North (2023, pp. 39-50) introduces her personalized LXD process, which draws from her diverse experiences in corporations, nonprofits, higher education, and consulting. North emphasizes that while her process may vary for different practitioners, the key elements—blending human performance, instructional system design, user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) design, and marketing—create a consistent and repeatable design approach. The process is divided into ten steps, starting with "The Request" (pp. 40-41), where the designer gathers initial information, followed by "The Kickoff" and "The Scope Agreement," which are foundational for aligning with stakeholders on project goals. As the process advances, steps like "The Shoes" involve deep empathy through task analysis, while "The Funnel" helps distill content to focus on essential learning outcomes. The final stages, such as "The Red Pen" and "The Takeoff," emphasize feedback and evaluation, ensuring continuous improvement of the learning experience. North compares her LXD process to the ADDIE model but highlights that her approach adds greater depth by focusing on emotional engagement and contextualized content throughout each phase (North, 2023, pp. 39-50).
In The Learning Guild’s research report, “Learner Personas: The Human in the Experience,” Bozarth (2024) delves into the critical role of learner personas in learning experience design (LXD). The report highlights how learner personas—fictional yet data-driven representations of typical learners—help instructional designers gain a deeper understanding of their learners’ needs, motivations, and challenges. Bozarth argues that traditional demographic information, such as age and occupation, often fails to capture the complexities of learner behavior and context. Instead, she emphasizes the importance of focusing on behavior patterns, learning goals, and the environment to create more accurate and effective learning experiences (Bozarth, 2024).
The report also explores how learner personas can be applied across various learning design strategies, including journey mapping and prototyping. Bozarth points out that well-crafted personas enable designers to develop more engaging and relevant experiences by tailoring content to specific learner needs. It is crucial to reiterate the concern about introducing or perpetuating biases and stereotypes in personas. By using evidence-based approaches to develop learner personas, designers can avoid assumptions and generalizations that may lead to misaligned or ineffective learning interventions. Bozarth further stresses the importance of regularly updating personas to reflect evolving learner needs and newly available data, ensuring that learning experiences remain relevant and impactful over time. Overall, the report reinforces the value of incorporating empathy and user-centered design principles in LXD, encouraging designers to better understand and respond to the unique experiences of their learners.
The next stop on our journey takes us to a chain of islands in the “based-learning” realm. These “islands” represent key strategies—project-based, scenario-based, and story-based learning—each offering unique approaches to immersive, hands-on learning experiences. In the context of learning experience design (LXD), these methods are essential for engaging learners by fostering critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity, all while anchoring educational goals in real-world applications.
Project-based learning (PBL) is an instructional method that emphasizes active learning through student-driven projects focused on real-world problems. According to Miller et al. (2021), PBL is rooted in key theoretical ideas such as active construction, situated learning, social interactions, and the use of cognitive tools. This approach encourages students to engage in collaborative inquiry, apply their knowledge to create tangible outcomes and reflect on their learning process. PBL fosters critical thinking, creativity, and practical problem-solving skills, offering a framework that supports academic achievement and promotes long-term changes in teaching practices by motivating educators to adapt and respond to student needs (Miller et al., 2021).
Scenario-based learning (SBL) immerses learners in realistic, problem-solving environments that allow them to apply their knowledge and skills in context. SBL is particularly effective for enhancing critical thinking, decision-making, and practical application across various domains, from education to corporate training. According to Chernikova et al. (2020), SBL’s effectiveness is heightened when learners are supported with scaffolding tailored to their levels of expertise, such as examples and reflection phases.
Story-based learning (SBL) is an instructional method that leverages storytelling to create immersive learning experiences, fostering cognitive engagement and improving retention. According to Andrews, Hull, and Donahue (2009), SBL employs narratives to guide learners through complex topics by using relatable and structured storylines, which aid in problem-solving and decision-making. Similarly, Robin (2006) highlights the use of digital storytelling, where multimedia elements such as images, audio, and video are integrated to enhance the learning process. This combination of narrative and digital tools supports the development of multiple literacy skills and offers learners an engaging, context-rich environment to explore real-world concepts.
In one of my first roles in "corporate" learning, I found myself as a subcontractor for the Department of Homeland Security, facilitating emergency management planning for various states and municipalities. How I ended up there is perhaps a story for another blog, but suffice it to say, this was a few years after the September 11th attacks in the U.S. The country faced an enormous undertaking to aid in recovery efforts and future prevention of terrorist acts and natural disasters. This wasn't the career pivot I had expected, but surprisingly, my years as an educator and leader had prepared me well to facilitate such initiatives.
For several years, I traveled the country with a team of (thankfully) far more qualified subject-matter experts (SMEs) in emergency management and planning to coordinate these workshops. We would spend about a week at each location, moderating discussions and drafting plans to formulate emergency strategies for potential catastrophic events—both likely and unlikely—in various regions. In West Texas, for instance, we might develop scenarios for epizootic events (livestock disease outbreaks), wildfires, and drought, among others. The learning strategies mentioned earlier—project-based, scenario-based, and story-based learning—were critical components of our workshop delivery. Through role-play, simulation exercises, and similar methods, we honed the problem-solving skills needed to anticipate resources and plans for responding to imagined events—like a worldwide pandemic that would arrive nearly 20 years later. These workshops could not have succeeded without such dynamic learning strategies.
Learning experience design (LXD) is a dynamic, evolving field that harnesses diverse instructional methods to craft engaging and effective learning experiences. As we've explored, project-based, scenario-based, and story-based learning strategies serve as powerful tools for LXD practitioners, enhancing learner engagement and boosting knowledge retention.
Cara North's structured LXD process provides a comprehensive framework for designing impactful learning experiences. The use of learner personas, as highlighted in The Learning Guild's report, emphasizes the importance of understanding and empathizing with our target audience. These approaches, combined with evidence-based research and practices, enable us to create learning experiences that are informative, engaging, and relevant to the learner's needs and context.
My personal experience in emergency management planning demonstrates the practical application of these learning strategies in real-world scenarios. By incorporating project-based, scenario-based, and story-based learning elements, we created immersive and practical training experiences that prepared participants for complex, high-stakes situations.
As the field of LXD continues to evolve, it is crucial for practitioners to stay informed about new research, technologies, and methodologies. By combining core capabilities with specialized knowledge in applied areas, we can create learning experiences that meet immediate educational needs and inspire lifelong learning and adaptability in an ever-changing world.