Design Principles for Learning Materials: Build Learning That Sticks

Chosen theme: Design Principles for Learning Materials. Welcome! Here you’ll find practical, human-centered guidance for crafting resources that are clearer, kinder to working memory, and relentlessly focused on outcomes. Explore, apply a tip today, and subscribe for fresh, research-backed inspiration.

Chunking and Signposting

Break complex lessons into small, labeled sections with clear goals and time estimates. We once split a dense twenty-page guide into six concise modules and completion rates doubled. Share your best chunking trick so others can learn, too.

Plain Language, Powerful Learning

Replace jargon with everyday words, short sentences, and concrete examples. A nursing course swapped technical phrasing for patient scenarios and saw quicker comprehension. Test your next draft with a colleague and ask where confusion still sneaks in.

White Space as a Teaching Tool

Generous margins and breathing room reduce cognitive fatigue and guide attention to what matters. When we widened spacing around key steps, error rates dropped. Try adding pause points and tell us whether learners move more confidently through tasks.

Motivation Through Relevance and Purpose

WIFM: Make the Purpose Obvious

Start each module with a one-sentence promise: what the learner will do better tomorrow. A sales onboarding replaced objectives with outcomes, and participation jumped. Draft your promise line and invite your team to pressure-test its clarity.

Authentic Contexts and Stories

Wrap content in relatable scenarios, names, and decisions that mirror real stakes. A data class used a neighborhood food bank dataset and attendance soared. Post a scenario idea from your field, and we’ll help sharpen the tension and choices.

Quick Wins and Momentum

Give learners a tiny success in the first five minutes: a solved problem, a checklist, or a template. Early wins create trust and fuel persistence. Try this today and share the smallest quick win that delivered outsized motivation.

Visual Hierarchy and Typography that Teach

Typographic Choices that Support Reading

Choose legible typefaces, comfortable line lengths, and generous line spacing. Keep styles consistent to build rhythm. After switching to a clean sans-serif and 1.6 line height, one course saw fewer rereads. Try it and tell us what learners noticed.

Color with Intention

Limit your palette and reserve bright colors for actions or critical ideas. A math unit used one accent shade for definitions and recall improved. Share your brand colors, and we’ll suggest roles for each hue to avoid visual noise.

Layouts that Lead the Eye

Use grids, headings, and proximity to group related elements. Left-align text, maintain consistent spacing, and keep navigation fixed. When we aligned instructions beside tasks, time-on-task dropped. Post a screenshot and we’ll annotate improvement opportunities for flow.

Interaction and Feedback Loops

Insert quick, ungraded questions every few minutes to surface misconceptions early. A micro-quiz after each concept cut rewatching time in half. Share your favorite check type—poll, drag-and-drop, or reflection—and we’ll recommend timing and frequency.

Interaction and Feedback Loops

Offer actionable next steps tied to specific criteria, with examples of stronger responses. When a writing course added targeted hints, revision quality improved. Post a rubric snippet, and we’ll help translate it into feedback stems learners understand instantly.

Assessment for Learning: Retrieval, Spacing, Reflection

Ask learners to recall, not just re-read: short-answer prompts, flashcards, or explain-it-to-a-peer moments. A biology course added weekly recall drills and exam performance climbed. Share your topic, and we’ll craft high-utility retrieval questions together.

Assessment for Learning: Retrieval, Spacing, Reflection

Revisit key ideas over days and mix related topics to strengthen transfer. We spaced practice across three weeks and retention persisted. Tell us your course length, and we’ll help schedule spaced review without overwhelming your calendar.