Designing learning is not only about content. It is about people. The more I explore design thinking in instructional design, the more I am reminded that meaningful learning begins long before development. It begins with listening, noticing, questioning, and understanding the real human experience behind the learning need. Frameworks such as Design Thinking, Double Diamond, Backward Design, Human-Centred Design, and Service Design do more than guide process. They challenge us to slow down, define the right problem, and design with greater empathy, intentionality, and care. Perhaps the real question is not, “How do we build training?” It is, “How do we design learning that truly responds to people?” That shift changes everything. #InstructionalDesign #DesignThinking #LearningDesign #HumanCentredDesign #LearningExperienceDesign #CorporateLearning #Elearning #DoubleDiamond
In my opinion, the very best instructional designers understand that meaningful learning design also asks us to honor the complexity of the learner’s motivations, constraints, emotions, and lived realities. When we design with that depth of awareness, learning stops being a deliverable and becomes an experience that supports growth, confidence, and real change.
Cindy Hancock, hmm the "defining problems first" part is key here... too many teams jump straight to building without actually understanding what people need. Those frameworks you mentioned really do shift the whole approach from content-first to people-first thinking.