The Future of Instructional Designers / Learning Designers

If you don’t adapt, you fail. Obvious radical shifts are happening within the learning and development space as the “tick-in-the-box” mentality reigns supreme across many organisations.  

The learning designer's role can take two forms: pushing forward to lead innovation and impactful learning within a business that targets key issues or… a copy-and-paste machine when HR wants their policies in a clickable format. Spoiler alert: that last one shouldn’t exist.

Let’s talk about seven things Learning Designers can do to help keep learning and development alive:  

#1 Get rid of the term Instructional Designer

You’ll have noticed we’ve thrown out the word Instructional Designer. The term "instructional designer" is no longer the full scope of this dynamic role. Embracing titles like "Learning Designer" or "Learning Experience Designer" can better reflect the creative, strategic, and impactful nature of their work in shaping the future of education.

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#2 Embrace Technology (Dev Tools, AI, New Features)

One of the biggest problems in the learning and development industry is that most departments are slow — slow to adapt, slow to innovate, and slow to develop. This comes back to the appetite within these departments, and as the designer within the department, you should educate the department on best practices, even if it means getting everyone on a call and talking through things step-by-step. The specific technology is for another article, but keep your eyes out on what other designers are doing out there, decentralised learning, game engines, AI/VR (not the gimmicks) and what’s happening in the dev space.

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#3 Humanise Content (Get out of the policy documents!)

It's time for designers to move beyond dry policy documents and infuse content with storytelling and real-world relevance. By focusing on the human element, designers can create more engaging, relatable, and impactful learning experiences.

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#4 Integrate Neuroscience (Emotional and Social Learning)

When was the last time you updated your understanding of how people learn? If you’re still talking about the four learning styles… you’re decades behind. Pick up a book, read new research, and start factoring and trialling that within your learning experiences. Not a reader? Pick up something like Blinkist. One last tip, would be if your organisation has had psychometric profiling done, reach out to better understand the types of profiles you’re creating content for.

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#5 Become Project Managers (Of the learning part)

We’ll keep this one short, as a learning designer, you must start taking over the projects you’re working on, leading them towards positive outcomes for the learners. As the designer, YOU (should) care the most about the learning experience, whereas if other departments are in charge, could you truly say that’s at the top of their priority list most of the time?

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#6 Incorporate Game-based Learning (Not just “simple gamification”)

Moving beyond basic gamification, learning designers should aim to develop their skills in immersive game-based learning environments that simulate real-world challenges using technology like Unreal Engine 5, Unity, etc. If you’re looking for a good place to start, Godot is an open-source (free) game engine that allows you to start getting your feet wet. Want to start with these basics? Check out our article on gamification here.

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#7 Challenge the norm of education (In control of people’s futures)

Learning Designers have the power to disrupt traditional educational models, advocating for innovative, learner-centred approaches. By challenging the status quo, they can help create more flexible, accessible, and relevant training that better prepares learners for the future. You may have noticed that post-COVID, companies are relying on embedded soft skills that underpin how people carry out work, putting a rivalry between classic education pathways (uni) and specific training courses rolled out by larger organisations.  

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The road ahead is filled with opportunities for innovation and growth. Still, if some of the key people who make up the training don’t act, we’ll lose learning and development within organisations.

That’s enough to start the journey! If you’re a HR/L&D Manager reading this and want more insights, feel free to reach out.