Personas and Why We Need Them.
Change can be daunting, especially when it comes to learning how to do something new. But imagine if we could make the learning process smoother, more engaging, and tailored just for you. That’s what designing learning materials with the learner in mind is all about.
Understanding Learners: The Key to Effective Learning
When we create learning materials, it’s crucial to design them to fit the needs and preferences of the learners. By tapping into a learner’s habits and behaviours, we can craft a learning experience that’s not only efficient but also reduces dropout rates.
Why is this important? Because by understanding who you are as a learner, we can develop e-learning courses that are engaging, motivating, and meet your expectations. This is where learner personas come into play.
What is a Learner Persona?
A learner persona is a fictional profile that represents the typical audience for an e-Learning course. Think of it as a detailed character sketch based on real-life data. Originally introduced and used in marketing to design targeted advertising by Alan Cooper, learner personas are now a valuable tool in creating effective learning materials.
By focusing the learning experience around you, the learner, we can ensure the content is relevant and engaging. It’s like having a course designed just for you.
Benefits of Using Learner Personas
So, what’s in it for you? Here are some key benefits of using learner personas in designing online courses:
Personalised Learning: The course content is tailored to your specific needs and preferences, making learning more relevant and engaging.
Consistency: Especially in large organisations, learner personas help maintain a consistent design across various modules and programs.
Increased Engagement: When learning materials resonate with you, you’re more likely to stay engaged and complete the course.
Insightful Design: By understanding your habits and decisions, we can create content that truly speaks to you.
Building Effective Learner Personas
Creating strong learner personas takes time and effort. It’s a collaborative process that involves the whole team to ensure a well-rounded perspective. Here’s what goes into a learner persona:
Background Information and Context: Who are you? What’s your story?
Professional Background: What do you do? Who do you work with? Do you supervise others? Who do you come into contact with?
Behaviours and Habits: What are your learning habits? What do you like and dislike? How do you use technology?
Needs and Goals: What do you hope to achieve, both in the short and long term? And what do you need to succeed?
Attitudes, Beliefs, and Opinions: What’s your outlook on learning? How do you handle change?
Pain Points and Frustrations: What do you find difficult? What do you need help with?
In conclusion, persona’s enable us to design, develop and deliver e-Learning that meets your learner’s needs and support your business goal. To gain the best possible results from personas keep in mind we need to:
Align with Learning Outcomes: Make sure the personas align with your learning goals. If something doesn’t fit, it might be time to rethink the design.
Build Empathy: The more we understand you, the better we can tailor the learning experience.
Test and Refine: If possible, test the personas with a user group to ensure they’re on point.
Stay Curious: Keep asking questions like, “How will this persona engage with the content?” or “What support will this persona need?”