As part of a self-directed learning project within my master\u2019s program, I chose to look into the relationship between instructional design and user experience design. My choice was based on my belief that instructional design can greatly benefit from user experience design when developing learning experience especially eLearning interventions. My thinking was to take the business mentality of developing a product that is designed to provide a positive experience for the user resulting in better sales and apply it to learning materials. Thinking of learning material as a product can keep the designers focus on the user, which in the case of instructional design is the learner, resulting in an efficient and enjoyable learning experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After doing extensive research, reading, completing a couple of MOOCs, and social learning I realized that I tapped into a grey area. At first, I thought it all made sense until I realized that instructional design and user experience design are two different fields that seem to have little awareness of each other. Generally, the different opinions I have observed brought me to two streams of thoughts, first, the concept of learning experience design, and second that user experience design will take over instructional design. I found the two notions are not completely true, mainly because they look at one side of the equation, but before I continue with my findings let\u2019s look into the most important terms that I will come across in this post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the Association of Talent Development<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, instructional design is the creation of learning experiences and materials in a manner that results in the acquisition and application of knowledge and skills. The discipline follows a system of assessing needs, determining learning objectives, developing materials<\/a>, and evaluating their effectiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n LXD.org<\/em><\/strong><\/a> defines Learning experience design as the process of creating learning experiences that enable the learner to achieve the desired learning outcome in a human-centered and goal-oriented way. In LXD the focus in on the learner and the process that the learner goes through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Nielsen Norman Group<\/a> <\/em><\/strong>co-founded by professor and author Don Norman states that User experience encompasses all aspects of the end-user\u2019s interaction with the company, its services, and its products. User experience design is the process of supporting user behavior<\/a> through usability<\/a>, usefulness, and desirability<\/a> provided in the interaction with a product. UX designers employ design thinking processes to reconcile user\u2019s needs with technical feasibility and business viability.<\/p>\n\n\n\nLearning Experience Design (LXD)<\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
User Experience Design (UXD)<\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
User Interface Design (UI)<\/span><\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n