Using UX design for online learning: Why empathy matters

Alexandra Mihai
The Educationalist
Published in
4 min readApr 19, 2020

For the past weeks I have been following closely the debate on the impact the coronavirus crisis has had on universities and especially on the teaching and learning process. There is no shortage of analysis, from various angles: teachers and students facing a new situation, in many cases feeling unprepared and under pressure, e-learning experts and instructional designers offering tips for emergency online teaching and learning, universities fearing economic loss due to lower student numbers.

As it becomes clearer that a normal start of the fall semester is unlikely, a more strategic approach needs to come into focus. How can we realistically create quality online learning experiences that are institutionalised and sustainable for a longer period of time? And where do we even start? As I have been advancing in my UX design course, I realised that some of the principles and techniques of UX design could be very helpful in this critical moment when our interactions with digital technologies are being redefined.

One of the key challenges in online education (but these days it applies to online work as well) is the lack of face-to-face contact and the nonverbal communication that goes with it. This is also one of the main reasons many teachers have been opposed to making this move, as long as they still had the choice. While no digital technology as such, no matter how advanced, can replace human interaction (yet), there is one ingredient that can help address this challenge: empathy. If there ever was a time where empathy should take front seat, it surely is now. The problem is, empathy takes practice and we are all too often trapped in our own bubbles, forgetting to put ourselves in other people’s shoes.

The UX design process requires building up strong empathy skills: by doing thorough user research, building personas, user journey maps and flows, we aim to better understand the people we are designing for. Having designed online courses for more than a decade, I can easily see how these practical tools can help with creating more engaging learning experiences in a virtual environment. It’s true, we will still not be able to see our students’ body language in response to certain activities, but by spending a bit more time at the drawing board and imagining students’ journey through our course we can develop the empathy we need to overcome physical distance.

So here are a few ideas of how UX design tools can help build empathy and create meaningful learning experiences online:

  • Get to know your students better: this sounds easier than it actually is. And having them in front of you in the classroom weekly is not necessarily better than sharing a virtual space. This process needs to be intentional. It’s important to create opportunities for students to express their identity, their thoughts and to reflect on their learning. It’s equally important to know how to listen, how to pick up on the small nuances, in a non-judgemental way. Remember: you need this information to create and adjust your course to their needs.
  • Imagine students’ journey through the course: it’s almost like writing a novel, but the characters are real. With all the information you gathered, picture how students go through your syllabus, where they might be confused, what makes them smile. Imagine where they learn: do they have a dedicated space or it’s the kitchen table after family dinner? Do they read on their laptop or on their mobile phones? When is their study time? How do they feel when they receive feedback? How about when they anxiously wait for their grades? It sounds simple, yet it is not the first thing we do when designing a course. Nowadays this level of empathy is even more important as all the variables of our lives have changed and are in continuous flux.
  • Create flows for different activities: after picturing their overall journey, it’s time to zoom into particular learning activities (e.g. debate, game, group work, etc) and imagine your students navigating through it. All too often, as creators of the tasks, we have a very clear idea of the various steps and what it takes to accomplish them. So how about walking in our students’ shoes, for a change? Are the instructions clear or will students be frowning with confusion? How about the workload? Was that 20 minutes video too long? What if they got bored half way and gave up? If you asked them to work in groups, did you create a space for them to collaborate? And if you did and see that no one is using it? These (and many other) are thoughts that occur to us during the course, at various stages, mainly when we get drowned in student emails or when reading final evaluations. That is why it’s much more productive to try to create these flows and scenarios at the course design stage.

When designing for online learning there are many things we cannot take for granted, as we would do in the classroom, like nonverbal communication or informal feedback. That is why the process needs to be more thoroughly designed, each interaction intentionally planned and several different scenarios considered. To create a successful online learning experience, teachers need to put the student in the center. And for this they need a healthy dose of empathy.

Thanks for reading! I am looking forward to reading your thoughts or suggestions in the comments below. For more insights, analysis and tips on (higher) education, online teaching and UX design, follow me on Twitter and/or sign up to my brand-new newsletter!

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Written by Alexandra Mihai

Assistant Professor of Innovation in Higher Education @MaastrichtU. Passionate about designing new learning spaces. My newsletter: educationalist.substack.com