Do you ever feel envious of the trendy two-letter acronyms used by practitioners in User Experience (UX), Information Architecture (IA) and User Interface (UI) design?
Well, I’m not embarrassed to say that I do. I long for a contemporary acronym I can say with a confident toss of the head. An acronym that sounds so right, the uninformed will think they should know what it means and will never ask.
For those of you who don’t know the history, here is a brief and biased summary of the titles used to describe our field.
The ISD Era
At one time our field was known as Instructional Systems Design (ISD). It’s not that ISD was a bad acronym, but the systems part felt a bit like instructional engineering.
At some point, the acronym began to lose its relevance. We were no longer creating systems. It also sounded somewhat dull. And as we all know, anyone who finds joy in creating courses about HIPAA law or copier repair is anything but dull.
The ID Era
Though no date has been recorded for this event, the word systems was mysteriously dropped from instructional systems design. As we began to design more varied and richer learning experiences, it just disappeared. Poof. It happened quickly, almost as though everyone telepathically agreed to the change without uttering a word about it.
But there was one problem. This left us with the forgettable ID acronym. When capitalized, these two letters can stand for anything from Industrial Design to Information Design. In fact, ‘Acronym Finder’ lists 102 meanings for ID. It is simply too common.
In addition, the term instructional feels a little dated. It focuses on materials rather than users, and may summon images of filmstrips and overhead projectors. If you are too young to know about these technological relics, don’t worry. It doesn’t matter at this point.
The Learning Architect
Several years ago, aware of the need for a new name and a new way of designing, Clive Shepherd wrote The New Learning Architect.
I wholeheartedly supported this moniker and used it myself for awhile. It implied our field could be known as Learning Architecture. The metaphor is nearly perfect and expresses the unique nature of how we design. Yes, I could see myself as a learning architect. Unfortunately, this label was not adopted by a sufficient number of practitioners.
Learning Experience Design (LX Design)
This brings us to my vote as the ideal replacement for instructional design that is slowly creeping into use. It is Learning Experience Design, also known as LX Design. Here is why I think this title is relevant and meaningful.
Focuses on the User. As noted, Instructional Design implies a focus on materials. That’s the wrong perspective. Learning Experience Design, on the other hand, focuses on how a person learns. It suggests a user-centric mindset, which is more effective for understanding an audience, meeting audience needs and thus, creating better solutions.
Based on Learning Science. Learning Experience Design emphasizes the learning rather than the instruction. Having the word learning in the title may remind us of the body of scientific research (although not perfect) underlying how people assimilate and apply knowledge and skills.
Designing Experiences. Calling ourselves Learning Experience Designers acknowledges that we design, enable or facilitate experiences rather than courses. This gives us a broad license to empower people with the tools and information they need to do their jobs, regardless of the chosen format.
In conclusion, LX Design is a title for the 21st century. I can almost see a generation of children who are eager to become LX Designers when they grow up. Most important, saying that you are an LX Designer puts you on an equal footing with peers who get to use trendy acronyms every day.
What are your thoughts fellow LX Designers?
Renaming instructional design to Learning Experience Design (LXD) truly reflects the evolving nature of education. Pairing LXD principles with a Social Community WordPress Theme can take online learning to the next level by fostering engagement and collaboration among learners. Exciting times ahead!
Hi Connie,
I love LX Designer. I asked my boss if I could change my title. We’ll see!
Agreed, Dennis. The lack of evaluation is a primary concern in our field. See this podcast episode where Julie Dirksen talks about the importance of evaluation to continue to get better at design: Are You Getting Any Better?
This is a great read! I believe that Learning Experience Design is an excellent (and much needed) change to the field of Instructional Design. I have a BA degree in Psychology, a masters degree in Adult and Continuing Education with a specialization in Training and Development and an Education Specialist degree in Adult Education. I share my educational background because I did not receive a degree in Instructional Design, Technology, or Graphic Design. Due to not having a background in those fields, I’ve viewed this field different than my colleagues who were immersed in technological theories and traditional ISD ideology.
In all of my graduate education, instructional design was more of an after thought since the field of adult education focuses more on globalization/social impact practices, language, literacy, theoretical concepts of how adults learn and life long learning, I always felt that instructional design was a cold way of defining such a complex field.
We do create profound learning experiences so I believe this is a fantastic recommendation. This leads me to my next thought: If we create learning experiences we should also be just as concerned about evaluating them to see if they are effective. Not all learning experiences are great so I firmly believe that we need to ensure we embed an evaluation component to keep us honest.
Love this blog!
Thanks for your input on the debate, Niels.
Connie
Hello Connie,
Here’s a message from a Learning Experience Designer 🙂
I’ve been working as a LX Desiger since 2007 and I consider myself to be a LX Design pioneer. There seems to be a growing interest in the label LX Design over past years. I think it’s great to see this happening. Here’s something you may want to check out: http://www.lxcanvas.com
Hope to hear from you!
Niels
Hi Marty,
Yes, the idea is emerging in the industry consciousness. I love your thought that LX is built on the shoulders of parent disciplines. See you at DevLearn!
Connie
Great post, Connie! And very timely. I came across your post in preparing my presentation “Becoming a Learning Experience Designer” at the upcoming DevLearn conference http://ow.ly/RqOdu . When the time is right, a good idea begins to emerge from multiple sources, until it hits a tipping point. Judging from number of comments in reaction to your post – we may be almost there!
Perhaps it’s useful to think of LX Design (I love the short form!) as not only a new name, but as a new discipline that encompasses but goes beyond instructional design. This new discipline is built on the shoulders of “parent” disciplines like UX Design, Design Thinking, Learning Science, and Learning Technology. If someone would design a new LXD Masters program like this – I’d consider hiring its graduates.
Love all of your points, Ben. Please be clear that I did not make this name up. I’ve been seeing it kind of emerge in the broader consciousness.
Best,
Connie
Thanks Connie!
Completely agree with the other comments on here and wanted to +1 this. The slice of history helps line the reader up for a home run of a suggestion. I, too, get the inquisitive head tilt at the mention of Instructional Design (forget about ID or ISD!)
“Learning” puts the learner first and “Experience” keeps the space broad. It’s wonderful! I also like that you’re not over-analyzing this like an early commentor did. (e.g., “Digital learning designer” or “Learning systems artist”)
Lastly, I find it ironic that a profession which specializes in making content understandable gave itself such a fuzzy name. Learning Experience Designer will definitely continue to pick up, for good reason.
Jacob,
You may want to advertise and find contract help at the following: The eLearning Guild’s job board, the Articulate community and the job board at ATD. Any other suggestions?
Connie
Hi All
I am looking for an Instructional designer with Game experience for one of my E-learning project. Would you please help me finding an ID.
Thank You
Regards
Jacob
Jacob@whitespacecreatives.com
Interesting post and idea Connie. I’ve been an Instructional Designer for many years, but depending on where I worked the title itself has varied, although not the job description.
Currently, I’m getting a master’s degree in Instructional Design and Technology (mouth full) and I think that the title is very cumbersome and difficult for people to understand what it actually means. I do wish that Instructional Designers had a better designation and LX Designer does seem more modern. However, as with any profession, it would be very difficult to formally change a designation just by having professionals informally adopt it. I believe a change is only realistically possible if higher ED institutions and professional associations get behind it. On the other hand, as individuals and consultants, I feel like we can use whatever title best describes what we do within our profession.
Thanks for always posting great stuff.
-Julie-
Agree completely that ID is obsolete. I like the thinking around your new job title. One thing spring to mind though, many ID have no background in education and in many companies they act as online editor.
I imagine that together with the title and its implications, the market should also focus on employing professionals with a solid background in learning and teaching.
Thank you for your insightful comments, Jason. Yes, I’ve heard LX Design here and there and thought it was a good title. Time to bring it into the light to discuss. So good it is working out for you!
Best,
Connie
Hello Connie,
This is an *excellent* quick history and explanation of the drift that ID has experienced. Thank you!
I read this with particular interest because I changed the name of our team at Six Red Marbles from “Learning Design” to “Learning Experience Design” in 2013. Many of my reasons at the time were (and still are) very much in line with what you have written here. In all honesty, I always have felt that “Instructional Design” was a misnomer. If we are to be taken seriously that what we’re doing is “learner-centric” we absolutely need a different term. “Learning design” still does not get there because you can’t design learning – learning is a personal process that happens within the individual. But we can design things that create an intended experience. So this is partially how I landed on Learning Experience Design.
Further, I like the term because I think that traditional ID *should* be very actively borrowing from UX/UI, design thinking, lean startup, etc. And we should be continuously refreshing what we do and how we do it based on the vast and fast-evolving field of learning sciences.
I should also add that we have evolved our practice to suit our specific needs as an agency that works with many different types of clients. Our clients and projects are so vastly different from each other that we recognized a need to evolve the practice of ID to integrate these other disciplines in a rigorous and evidence-driven way. So as it turns out, we started by rebranding ID, but also ultimately changed our process and methods to encompass this larger superset of practices.
We’ve written about what we do quite a bit, so if you’re interested, you can find more here: http://www.sixredmarbles.com/learning-experience-design
It’s SO exciting to find more people in this LX tribe! I hope that we can keep this conversation going, and continue to innovate and expand this discipline we all love.
Many thanks,
~Jason Gorman
VP, Learning Experience Design Services, Six Red Marbles
LX works for me. I don’t mind being associated with the Lexus of Learning http://www.lexus.com/models/LX/
First time on your blog for a long while and I like this alot.
I’m planning a new venture providing an all-encompassing consultancy service covering online learning design coupled with technology implementation. I really like this term as I envisage people will ‘get’ what I am offering far more with Learning Experience Design over Instructional Design.
One of the first tips taught to succeeding with a new business venture is to have a descriptive name, so this is a very useful by-use.
Thanks, Paul. Well, the military was really where instructional design started, so we have to give them that much. I’m sure it will take longer for large institutions to change than small nimble ones.
Connie
Connie,
Thank you very much for the understanding…the military is still using the “Systems” part and it’s very confusing. I love the new approach and I am inspired. Thanks!
Hi Juan,
Thanks for writing your opinion, which I respect. I guess this was an essay for school? Even so, I’m happy to have your comment. As to a minor point, I’m sure you know that there are many programs that are named “Instructional Technology” or “Instructional Design.” Usually, “Educational Tech” programs are geared to working in K-12 or higher. The ID programs may be geared toward adult ed, workplace training and sometimes education. You can see a list of different program names here: https://theelearningcoach.com/resources/instructional-design-programs/.
Best,
Connie
People that are not or have not heard about “instructional designers” do not know what we are or do. If there is confusion about what a professional does, then the people in need of this type of services will not know who to hire. Our Master’s degree name is not Master of Education in Instructional Design, it is Master of Education in Educational Technology. The name was picked for a reason. It is a good name because people know it involves education and technology, but it also carries a paradigm. Most people think that it ONLY involves education, meaning that it is only for the educational field.
We are currently reading the book Multi-Media Learning from Richard E. Mayer. The title of his book goes directly to what it is for. In my opinion, “instructional design” should be renamed to something like “Multi-media Learning Design” This name tells the audience what we do (design) for what (learning) and how (Multi-media). We should be Multi-media Learning Designers.
When someone reads the title of what we do or we mention what we do, we should NOT have to explain what it means or involves, as people might not retain the right idea. Our main objective in our field is to transfer knowledge in the best possible way, and the best way is to let the learner have a clear picture of what something is.
I think Connie is wrong in the new name she wants, because Learning Experience Design does say you are creating a learning experience, but it does not say how you do it. Mentioning that multi-media is used, will create a higher level impact to whoever reads or hears it.
My proof is this. In the late 1990s there were hundreds of new websites with investments of millions of dollars. Most of the websites failed for several reasons, but the MOST important reason was the domain name. The domain name is the name used to access the website. Example: Yahoo.com, Hotmail.com, etc.
Failure names had things the possible visitors could not remember, such as te-ve-de-men-te.com, even boo.com You can read about their failure here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boo.com although they do not include the name as the reason.
The users might not remember how many “o” it has. Or if the person visiting is a none English Speaker and listens to the name, he/she could write it differently. In Spanish would be bu.com
I made a 2 year analysis on why so many websites failed even spending 500 million dollars in advertising, and from all, the main reason was the website’s name. My analysis also included why some were so successful without so much effort, and the main reason was the same.
The name should be designed for the target audience. That is my opinion.
Hi Tracy,
I like your train of thought, but I know we won’t be able to control who uses the term. So what you are saying, essentially, is that if you are just making Clicky-Clicky-Bling-Bling Training, then call yourself an ID. If you are really creating robust learning experiences, you get to call yourself an LX Designer. It’s an interesting thought. Maybe it will become some kind of industry meme.
Best,
Connie
Interesting, Pinky. Well, I have seen the term being used here and there so I can’t remember if people are coming to it simultaneously on their own or through osmosis. But either way, let’s help it creep into our language more often. Good choice of a name for your next-gen learning platform!
Connie
Hi Kim,
I’ve really been surprised at how many people like the idea. Thanks for your input.
Connie
Hi Connie,
I love the idea of renaming the Instructional Design field Learning Experience Design. Mostly, because whenever I say Instructional Design, I get blank stares from my listener. I feel Learning Experience better encapsulates the responsibilities of the job.
Thank you for providing the background about the changing names of the field.
Sincerely,
Kim
I don’t know if we had any influence in the coining of this term, but this is the exact reason we chose the name BrandLX when we launched our next-generation learning platform (LMS is the next term we need banished). Not only does the term “Instructional Design” imply an emphasis on the materials, to your point, Connie, but course authoring tools themselves are becoming archaic and irrelevant, as the visionaries shift to video & illustration-based structures. Check out http://NWPP.training for an example exactly what this kind of experience can be. (Scroll down the page to see a sample video.)
‘LX’ most definitely has our vote. If anyone happens to be at mLearnCon this week, I will be giving two presentations based on the work being done on the BrandLX platform. “Mobile Design for Mission-Critical Occupations” Wednesday at 1:00pm, and “The Certified Customer” on Thursday at 11am. Hope to see some of you there.
Connie:
I’ve been thinking a lot more about this and really like this term. I think it is much more encompassing and gives a better understanding (just from the wording) to those outside the industry to what we strive to accomplish.
I’m wondering though, in your opinion, what would make/qualify someone to use this as a title. Some IDs make really robust learning experinces and others are creating “CCBB” training. Others have no choice but to make CCBB training – clients/orgs/$ whatever constrains them, but they want and know how to create the robust design.
Thoughts?
You are a person of action, Julius. I’ve already started using it in its long form. I guess I have to do the acronym too! Hey, I get glazed stares no matter what I say.
Best,
Connie
Hi Mollie,
I love the badge idea! Maybe some time I will get to that. LX DESIGN PRACTICED HERE.
Thanks,
Connie
Hi Harvest,
I’m glad you liked the humor. I was serious about the need for a change, like LX Design, but several people thought I was serious about being envious of a trendy name. They always say that if you write with humor, watch out. And true enough, I got slammed on it. Oh well, I guess that’s kind of humorous too.
Best,
Connie
Love it, Connie!
Joseph, “I’m doing a lot of LXD these days!” Ha! You crack me up. We just have to make sure we over-enunciate the ‘X’ so it doesn’t sound like ‘S.’
~Harvest
Love this LXD idea — in acronym form might even infer that the X represents a sense of “Learning ‘multiplied by’ Design” (hopefully, good design). Maybe you could create a cool graphic badge or banner proclaiming “LXD” power or similar and we could all state our LXD allegiance on social media.
Connie, your idea is wonderful and thank to that line of thought. I believe that in this day and age of technology changing from Instructional Designer to LX Designer will be recognized before you know it. Like one person suggested, using blog, twitter, and other social media to talk about it will give it more recognition. Let’s just start and think less how long it will take to acknowledge the new acronym. Thanks.
Hi Sagar,
Now, I’m not sure it will be easier to understand, but maybe! That would be great. Usually people think I design interiors, LOL.
Connie
Thanks for your comment, John! Let’s see if we can make it take hold.
Connie
Nice, Monica! Please let us know when it is translated to English. How I wish I was fluent in Spanish.
Connie
Thank you for the proposal, Connie.
It totally makes sense to me. As you and Justin mention, we are caring for the instruction (content delivery) together with the interaction of the learner with self, peers, facilitators, environment, content, etc. (learning experience).
I agree with the theory that when we design for complex learning, we are creating learning ecosystems: doing “instructional” and “constructional” design at the same time. I wrote a short reflection about this for a distance learning symposium in Guatemala a couple of years ago. The article is in Spanish, but I will find time to translate it into English to share. 😉
All the best,
Monica
Connie, LX Designer sounds soooooo much better than ID! Really liked this idea 🙂
LX Designer is absolutely perfect. People don’t understand when I tell them I’m an ‘instructional designer’. They can’t even guess we belong to which industry. Learning Experience Designer is most simple, accurate and easiest to grasp. They will come to know we are related to ‘learning’ and specialize in ‘experience design’.
Moreover, it sounds cool… I’m a LX Designer 😉
Hi Erich,
Okay! Way to move things along quickly. Best of luck with your program.
Connie
Hi Joe,
Well, I was suggesting LX Design or LX Designer. I know they will be confused but we usually have to explain instructional design anyway. Don’t forget to say it with confidence 🙂
Connie
LXD sounds perfect to me, although I can foresee folks staring at me, confused, as they parse the phrase “I’m doing a lot of LXD these days!”
This article made my day! I started developing an Open Masters of Science degree a few months ago, but I didn’t have an official name for it . . . until now. Thank you for the inspiration, now I have to update my degreed.com profile.
I know it won’t be easy, Rob. And you are better than most with your detailed explanations. Like someone said on Twitter, they sometimes just say, “I type and click.”
Good luck with making your architect/LX decision!
Connie
Oh wow. I can’t believe this may cross language barriers. Now that’s exciting. Thanks, Alejandra.
Connie
Thanks, Kyle.
Your fellow LX Designer.
Love it, Gina. You are right on top of things. Of course, no one will know what it means. Hey, maybe I’ll do it too.
Connie
I love it! I’m working on updating my Linkedin profile and this is going in!
Ooooh! LX design sounds very sleek and contemporary! I love how you dissected the history and meaning of the previous names. I sure hope this catches on!
Connie, I fully agree with Learning Experience Designer and also love the acronym 🙂
In my case, Spanish is my native language and even if we in Spain don’t use english on a daily basis, we usually adopt English acronyms like UX or UI. Why not with LxD?
I’ll try using it in my recently launched blog 🙂
Thanks for the idea!
Alejandra
I like Learning Architect and LX designer both.
I use architect to explain the process of what I do…” an Architect creates the plan and then calls in a number of sub-trades, engineers, carpenters, electricians, etc to get the building built.. I design how the learning looks then bring in specialists to build it…e learning programmers, facilitators, Knowledge management curators, communication experts, the administrators of learning in the organization to build it”
The same would apply for the LX designer except it may make more sense to say ” a User Experience Designer creates the plan and then calls in a number of specialists: developers, business analyst, graphic designers, etc to create how users interact with the content…. I design how the learner interacts with the content then bring in specialists to build it…e learning programmers, facilitators, Knowledge management curators, communication experts, the administrators of learning in the organization to build it”
Interesting that both descriptions; architect and LX designer have a parallel in the tech world.
Getting consistency will be a challenge!
Hi Justin,
Thanks for you comment. I look forward to reading your reaction. I agree, and shift won’t be easy. Unless we all decide to do the same thing at the same time!
Best,
Connie
Hi Colleen,
I don’t claim to have all the answers. But I wonder if you have two jobs? I guess I’m not quite sure what you mean about designing digital environments. In my own world, I also do website design, so I tell people (only if they ask) that I design learning experiences as well as websites. I know the whole thing is murky. That’s one reason I write … to help figure it out. So are you saying you design digital environments that are not part of a learning experience?
Good to hear from you,
Connie
I like LX Designer. So here’s the thing that still perplexes me: what I do is inseparable from the technology that allows me to do it. I know this isn’t true for all “LX designers.” Interesting that long ago when it was ISD, the term held the understanding that systems were being designed. The field went in another direction but my subfield is swinging back around again. I design digital environments as much as I do the LX. (And I think my faculty might claim they do LX whenever they prepare their History or Math classes). Is it time to split the field? Perhaps I’m a Digital Learning Designer? Learning Systems Artist?
Connie-
I very much enjoyed this article. So much so, I wrote a reaction to it 🙂
http://www.learndash.com/should-we-rename-instructional-design/
I think the name change makes sense (and have added an additional reason as to ‘why’). However, any kind of shift won’t come easy – as is evident by what we’ve seen thus far with “Tin Can API”.
Thanks for the inspiration!
-Justin
Interesting perspective, Christy. I do often call myself a learning experience designer now. I just don’t use the acronym very often though. Hey, glad you like it!
Connie
Ooh, I like that! Of course, with my blog name, it’s a natural fit.
My issue with learning architect is that architect is a protected name. You can’t use that word in your business name, and you have to be careful about advertising with it. LX design would avoid those problems.
LOL. I’ve thought about changing the title many times! But with 250 articles, redirecting the URLs would be crazy. So I try to think of it as a broad term, encompassing everything we do.
Connie, I love the title – LX Design(er) – Maybe it’s time to change your blog title too.
Jane