Creativity and learning experience design.

What do all designers need to do their best work? Creativity! Designers use creativity to envision and create things that we love to see and use.

We expect designers to come up with original ideas, innovative solutions, and beautiful designs that get the job done. Whether it is the design of a poster, a game, a website, or a piece of furniture, they are all the result of a creative process.

You can’t be successful as a designer without well-developed creative skills. Yet, when you look at people who are transitioning into learning experience design (LXD), few are creative professionals.

What is creativity?

According to the Cambridge Dictionary creativity is “the ability to produce original and unusual ideas, or to make something new or imaginative.” When you apply creativity effectively, you create something that is different and has value.

For example, a musician writes a new song that people enjoy listening to. If the song sounds the same as other songs, it isn’t considered to be as creative. A less creative song can still be enjoyed by many but the value decreases in terms of musical relevance. It’s the original songs that make music history and stand the test of time.

Making music and designing a learning experience are not the same. However, the creative process is similar. Both musicians and LX designers start with a vision for what they want to achieve, generate ideas, develop their ideas into something you can experience by adding detail and structure, improve their creations until they are satisfied, and finally launch their work for their audience to enjoy.

Talent vs skill

Creativity is generally regarded to be a talent. From early on, I was considered to be the creative type because I enjoyed drawing. While a bit of talent definitely helps, you won’t get far just on talent. There’s a big difference between being called creative and being a creative professional. This takes time and effort. It took years of design education to bring my creative abilities to a professional level.

I see many who enter the field of LXD struggle with being creative. That’s perfectly understandable if you don’t have a creative background. Fortunately, creativity isn’t (just) a talent, it’s a skill that you can and should develop.

The role of creativity in LXD

I’ve used the analogy of creating music to illustrate how creativity has universal principles that can be applied in different ways. You can imagine how going through a standard learning experience is like listening to a mediocre song that you’ve heard too many times. You’re glad when it’s over. A great learning experience, like a great song, can stick with you for the rest of your life. If you want to raise the level of the learning experiences you design, creativity is the path to get you there.

In my years of working as a designer, trainer, and teacher, I’ve experienced the power of creativity firsthand. Creativity plays a vital part in each step of the design process and unlocks LXD superpowers.

Creativity in LXD enables you to:

• Come up with original ideas that work.
• Find patterns, opportunities, and solutions that others overlook.
• Find the right form or shape for your design.
• Be resourceful when dealing with resources and constraints.
• Create new options to choose from instead of choosing an existing option.
• Design unique learning experiences that have never been done before.
• Have (more) fun!

The bottom line is: If you want to work in LXD, and if you want LXD to work, you need to get creative.

Are you ready to unlock your creativity potential? Read the complete article on LXD.org/blog and uncover the five steps that will boost your creativity!