Are We Designing for Learning or Just Adding More Clicks? 🤔

Early in my career, I was invited to train a team on how to use Storyline.

I started with my usual introductions, asking everyone around the table to introduce themselves (although I've never quite understood why I do this, as I can never remember anyone's name!).

About halfway around the table, one of the attendees introduced himself and said:

"I'm the manager of this team. I'm not here to learn the software. I think e-learning is where you take a PDF, chop it up and make it difficult to read."

Lovely moment! It was said partly in jest, but there was definitely a point being made.

That comment has stayed with me throughout my career. Every time I design something, I can almost hear him sitting on my shoulder, questioning whether I'm genuinely improving the learning experience or just making something more complicated than it needs to be.

A bit like my old driving instructor, who still occasionally appears in my head to offer advice or tell me off when I'm driving!

It's a useful reminder that just because we can make something interactive doesn't mean we should.