Learner Interface Design

Hey

Hope you are rolling with the busy. More on thinking about learning…

Big idea 🍉

There can be value in looking sideways to other sectors for insights about how to teach effectively. For example, medicine is great on evidence and alignment. But one sector I keep coming back to is software, and in particular: UI design.

UI is the User Interface... what we see when we use a website or app. A good UI gives us exactly the information we need, makes it obvious what to do, and tells us whether we've done it right. A bad UI... well, it can be *%&^ing frustrating.

The principles behind great UI are often relevant to the classroom. We could even think of teaching as Learner Interface Design. Here's what that looks like:

• Don't make me think (about the wrong things): If a user is thinking about where to click, the design has failed. If students are figuring out where to write or what the task is, they're not thinking about the content.

• Progressive disclosure: Only show what's needed right now. Reveal complexity as the user is ready. Think less what order do I cover the content? and more what am I deliberately hiding until later?

• One action at a time: Every screen has one primary action. In the classroom, we can do something similar: breaking instructions down so that each step has one clear ask, rather than expecting students to hold a whole sequence at once.

• Immediate feedback on every action: Click a button in a good app and we instantly know if it worked (or didn't). What can we do to help our students feel the same?

• Consistency frees up attention: Great apps use the same layouts and patterns everywhere. Users build automaticity and stop spending brainpower on navigation. Same with our routines and lesson structures. Inconsistency is a tax on attention.

Now, obviously we are not computers, and this lens has its limits. BUT… I reckon there's at least some value in asking: if my teaching was a user interface, how could it be better?

🎓 For more, check out this article on protecting attention for thinking.

Summary

• Insights from other sectors can offer valuable lessons for effective teaching.

• The principles of user interface design suggest removing friction so that focus is on content, with plenty of immediate feedback.

• Just like great UI, teaching is at its best when learning is automatic and frictionless.

Little updates 🥕

• Research on attendance → finds higher year 7 absence is linked to academic & social concerns.

• Article on AI-enhanced feedback → outlines that it works best when teachers actively revise AI-produced insights.

• Study of self-regulation → shows that it is linked to less mind-wandering but that learners still struggle to refocus.

• Article on reading & meta-cognition → highlights that storybook interventions may not lead to improved judgement of understanding.

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