I often think about what constitutes good design especially in embarrassing situations where I try to push a door open when I was actually supposed to pull it. Ironically, in some other situations, I don't think about design at all for example, when squeezing ketchup using the upside-down bottle; it seems so natural that I don't pause for a second! We tend to notice poor designs but more often than not, good designs are unnoticed because they are intuitive or invisible and although we experience them, we don't notice them.
In the early 1980s, Dieter Rams shared the 10 Principles of Good Design. The last principle of good design is, "Good design is as little design as possible." What this means is that good design doesn't need bells or whistles to draw attention to itself. It allows users to engage with the product or service easily and effectively without being a distraction.
How does this idea fit into the design of learning/training experiences?
An article by Josh Bersin in 2016, shared how the learning function has become invisible where, he discusses how "Invisible learning leaders focus more on curation and context, building an always-on learning environment, and becoming experts at embedding learning into work."
In the article,"The Invisible L&D", Dani Johnson defines this idea as “An L&D approach to developing the workforce by enabling and assisting learning throughout the organization, wherever and whenever it happens.”
In his post, Emmet Connolly, talks about different levels of invisible design. In his categorization of these levels, "Product invisibility is the most dramatic shift towards invisible design, where complete products or entire categories have moved from demanding notice to being automatic." Emmet talks about how "there are more and more products and services that strive to invisibly integrate themselves into our lives in a helpful, human-centered way."
Perhaps, as L&D, we need to strive for this highest level of invisibility where we act as the invisible glue that seamlessly integrates learning into the lives of those we serve. As this invisible glue, we need to:
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In the early 1980s, Dieter Rams shared the 10 Principles of Good Design. The last principle of good design is, "Good design is as little design as possible." What this means is that good design doesn't need bells or whistles to draw attention to itself. It allows users to engage with the product or service easily and effectively without being a distraction.
How does this idea fit into the design of learning/training experiences?
An article by Josh Bersin in 2016, shared how the learning function has become invisible where, he discusses how "Invisible learning leaders focus more on curation and context, building an always-on learning environment, and becoming experts at embedding learning into work."
In the article,"The Invisible L&D", Dani Johnson defines this idea as “An L&D approach to developing the workforce by enabling and assisting learning throughout the organization, wherever and whenever it happens.”
In his post, Emmet Connolly, talks about different levels of invisible design. In his categorization of these levels, "Product invisibility is the most dramatic shift towards invisible design, where complete products or entire categories have moved from demanding notice to being automatic." Emmet talks about how "there are more and more products and services that strive to invisibly integrate themselves into our lives in a helpful, human-centered way."
Perhaps, as L&D, we need to strive for this highest level of invisibility where we act as the invisible glue that seamlessly integrates learning into the lives of those we serve. As this invisible glue, we need to:
- Provide the right environment for friction-free learning without being intrusive.
- Act as conduits that enable people to learn continuously.
- Ensure that our design acts as the bridge that integrates learning and working.
- Encourage and support natural learning processes and even when learning may appear to be messy, we make sure it is authentic, natural and intuitive.
- Champion a continuous-learning culture and recognize all types of 'learning' including informal learning.
- Help individuals learn how to learn and enable them to be more self-directed in their efforts.
While we may appear to be invisible as L&D, our work and how that positively impacts the life and work of those it serves must be very visible.
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| Photo by: Taruna Goel |
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