--- title: Design smarter courses using learner profiles (this 30-minute step saves you hours later) description: Learner profiles are a way of ensuring you know who you are designing for to create maximum value in your online courses. image: https://blog.oppida.co/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/The-value-of-creating-learner-profiles-1.png --- 23/09/2019 # Design smarter courses using learner profiles (this 30-minute step saves you hours later) [ Bianca Raby ](https://blog.oppida.co/author/bianca-raby) Share: [facebook-f icon ](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://blog.oppida.co/learner-profiles) [linkedin-in icon ](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://blog.oppida.co/learner-profiles) [Twitter icon ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://blog.oppida.co/learner-profiles) [pinterest-p icon ](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://blog.oppida.co/learner-profiles) [envelope icon ](mailto:?body=https://blog.oppida.co/learner-profiles) Design smarter courses using learner profiles (this 30-minute step saves you hours later) 4:28 Picture this. A budding entrepreneur has an idea to create a better and more functional computer desk. The same entrepreneur then spends months and months designing and testing materials before engaging a [marketer](https://blog.oppida.co/self-taught-marketer-learning-outside-of-university) to help them take it to market. The first question this marketer asks is, “So, who is your ideal customer?”. Now, if the entrepreneur is experienced, they will no doubt provide them with a handful of ideal customer profiles that they have created. In this scenario, it would also be easy to see how these personas had informed design as the prototype would be reflective. Same goes with learner profiles! ![learner profiles](https://blog.oppida.co/hs-fs/hubfs/learner%20profiles.webp?width=630&height=355&name=learner%20profiles.webp) This design step is somewhat commonplace in the business world. It’s important in a successful company to know who you are designing for. Unfortunately, until recently, little attention has been paid to this critical design step in the online learning environment. As online learning competition heats up and learners become more sophisticated investors in their education, organizations who fail to understand and design for their learner profiles are at risk of falling behind. Just like an in-person workshop flops if the [facilitator](https://blog.oppida.co/online-facilitation-with-jo-cook) fails to understand their audience.  ## ![learner personas](https://blog.oppida.co/hs-fs/hubfs/learner%20personas.webp?width=700&height=394&name=learner%20personas.webp) ## Optimizing design through learner profiles [Online educators](https://oppidalearning.thinkific.com/) have borrowed the idea of personas from marketers and are seeing tremendous payoffs when they get it right. The value of engaging in this design process can be summed up into three areas. Learner profiles: 1. Put a face to the learner 2. Limit production waste 3. Support you to deliver on the education value you promised ![Optimising design](https://blog.oppida.co/hs-fs/hubfs/Optimising%20design.webp?width=630&height=355&name=Optimising%20design.webp) ## Putting a face to the learner Most online courses have the potential to reach a wide range of people globally, therefore it can often be hard to picture just one or two people doing a course. Online courses are also published into software, without any real-time feedback from a human (unlike a face-to-face workshop). However, if you take the time to design a series of learner profiles, by giving learners’ names, characteristics, and faces then you are more likely to consider their virtual opinion when making design decisions. A persona brings to life your ideal learner, so you are less likely to forget them! ![online student](https://blog.oppida.co/hs-fs/hubfs/online%20student.webp?width=630&height=355&name=online%20student.webp) ## Limit production waste Once you have conceptualized your learners as more human, you can use this learner profile to inform design decisions and not make unnecessary investments. For example; imagine one of your learner personas is named ‘Julie’. Julie is in her 60s and engaging in continuous professional development for her aged care position. She has an old Macintosh desktop computer which she uses on weekends to study.  Julie doesn’t need a mobile app, nor does she need any complicated gamification elements. It is also doubtful that she would appreciate tonnes of [videos and fancy animations](https://blog.oppida.co/instructional-videos-7-questions-to-decide-if-you-need-them). She cares about simplicity and, probably, structure. She wants to access the [learning management system](https://blog.oppida.co/most-popular-lms-of-2023-for-creators) with ease and find out everything she needs to know in order to finish the course.  An organization using learner profiles would be caught saying, “How would Julie feel if we did this in the course?”  ![adult online student](https://blog.oppida.co/hs-fs/hubfs/adult%20online%20student.webp?width=630&height=355&name=adult%20online%20student.webp) ## Deliver the value you promised with learner profiles Just like the entrepreneur designing the new office desk needs to deliver value to their ideal customer (or they won’t make a purchase), companies need to deliver on the value promised to their learners. It is in every educator’s best interest to do this not only to ensure the survival of a business or organization—but for the betterment of society. Time is a precious commodity and many industries are facing huge [skills shortages](https://blog.oppida.co/competency-gap-between-academia-and-industry). [Online education](https://oppida.co) has the power to accelerate an individual’s learning curve and teach the necessary skills of the future, at scale. Without really understanding your learners, you risk poor attrition, low outcomes, and brand damage.  Ignoring the person on the other end of the screen is no longer an option. Learner personas are a way of ensuring everyone on the [design team](https://blog.oppida.co/building-an-online-course-development-a-team) knows who they are designing for and, therefore, smart decisions can be made and the maximum value for the course can be created.  What are you waiting for? Bring your team together today to create some ideal learner profiles for your online courses. You won’t regret it! ![6 --- This post was originally published [here](https://www.axcelerate.com.au/post/learner-profiles) on VET:eXpress. [Communities in education](https://blog.oppida.co/tag/communities-in-education), [Educational design terminology](https://blog.oppida.co/tag/educational-design-terminology), [Online course design](https://blog.oppida.co/tag/online-course-design), [Online education delivery](https://blog.oppida.co/tag/online-education-delivery), [Educational design principles](https://blog.oppida.co/tag/educational-design-principles) ## Related posts [![prepare your learners for online study](https://blog.oppida.co/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/How-to-prepare-your-learners-for-online-study.png?height=200&name=How-to-prepare-your-learners-for-online-study.png) ](https://blog.oppida.co/how-to-prepare-your-learners-for-online-study) [Educational design strategies](https://blog.oppida.co/tag/educational-design-strategies) ## [How to prepare your learners for online study (and increase course completion rates by up to 60%)](https://blog.oppida.co/how-to-prepare-your-learners-for-online-study) [Bianca Raby](https://blog.oppida.co/author/bianca-raby) 26/08/2019 Digital education continues to revolutionise teaching and learning—both in and out of traditional... [ Read more ](https://blog.oppida.co/how-to-prepare-your-learners-for-online-study) [![Build online communities](https://blog.oppida.co/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/3-steps-to-building-online-communities-through-digital-peer-assessment.png?height=200&name=3-steps-to-building-online-communities-through-digital-peer-assessment.png) ](https://blog.oppida.co/build-online-communities-through-digital-peer-assessment) [Communities in education](https://blog.oppida.co/tag/communities-in-education), [Educational design strategies](https://blog.oppida.co/tag/educational-design-strategies), [Assessment in educational design](https://blog.oppida.co/tag/assessment-in-educational-design) ## [Build online communities that actually work using this 3-step peer assessment strategy](https://blog.oppida.co/build-online-communities-through-digital-peer-assessment) [Oppida Team](https://blog.oppida.co/author/oppida-team) 16/09/2019 Ever fallen behind when taking an online course? Or, even worse, have you clicked through the... [ Read more ](https://blog.oppida.co/build-online-communities-through-digital-peer-assessment) [![universal design for learning udl](https://blog.oppida.co/hs-fs/hubfs/universal%20design%20for%20learning%20udl.png?height=200&name=universal%20design%20for%20learning%20udl.png) ](https://blog.oppida.co/universal-design-for-learning-udl) [Working in educational design](https://blog.oppida.co/tag/working-in-educational-design), [Educational design terminology](https://blog.oppida.co/tag/educational-design-terminology) ## [How to apply Universal Design for Learning in 3 simple steps (with real classroom examples)](https://blog.oppida.co/universal-design-for-learning-udl) [Oppida Team](https://blog.oppida.co/author/oppida-team) 24/06/2024 Imagine a classroom where teachers adapt to diverse learning needs, instead of students conforming... 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Picture this. A budding entrepreneur has an idea to create a better and more functional computer desk. The same entrepreneur then spends months and months designing and testing materials before engaging a marketer to help them take it to market. The first question this marketer asks is, “So, who is your ideal customer?”. Now, if the entrepreneur is experienced, they will no doubt provide them with a handful of ideal customer profiles that they have created. In this scenario, it would also be easy to see how these personas had informed design as the prototype would be reflective. Same goes with learner profiles!

\n

\"learner

\n\n

This design step is somewhat commonplace in the business world. It’s important in a successful company to know who you are designing for. Unfortunately, until recently, little attention has been paid to this critical design step in the online learning environment. As online learning competition heats up and learners become more sophisticated investors in their education, organizations who fail to understand and design for their learner profiles are at risk of falling behind. Just like an in-person workshop flops if the facilitator fails to understand their audience. 

\n

\"learner

\n

Optimizing design through learner profiles

\n

Online educators have borrowed the idea of personas from marketers and are seeing tremendous payoffs when they get it right. The value of engaging in this design process can be summed up into three areas. Learner profiles:

\n
    \n
  1. Put a face to the learner
    2. \n
  2. Limit production waste
    3. \n
  3. Support you to deliver on the education value you promised
    4. \n
\n

\"Optimising

\n

Putting a face to the learner

\n

Most online courses have the potential to reach a wide range of people globally, therefore it can often be hard to picture just one or two people doing a course. Online courses are also published into software, without any real-time feedback from a human (unlike a face-to-face workshop). However, if you take the time to design a series of learner profiles, by giving learners’ names, characteristics, and faces then you are more likely to consider their virtual opinion when making design decisions. A persona brings to life your ideal learner, so you are less likely to forget them!

\n

\"online

\n

Limit production waste

\n

Once you have conceptualized your learners as more human, you can use this learner profile to inform design decisions and not make unnecessary investments. For example; imagine one of your learner personas is named ‘Julie’. Julie is in her 60s and engaging in continuous professional development for her aged care position. She has an old Macintosh desktop computer which she uses on weekends to study. 

\n

Julie doesn’t need a mobile app, nor does she need any complicated gamification elements. It is also doubtful that she would appreciate tonnes of videos and fancy animations. She cares about simplicity and, probably, structure. She wants to access the learning management system with ease and find out everything she needs to know in order to finish the course. 

\n

An organization using learner profiles would be caught saying, “How would Julie feel if we did this in the course?” 

\n

\"adult

\n

Deliver the value you promised with learner profiles

\n

Just like the entrepreneur designing the new office desk needs to deliver value to their ideal customer (or they won’t make a purchase), companies need to deliver on the value promised to their learners. It is in every educator’s best interest to do this not only to ensure the survival of a business or organization—but for the betterment of society. Time is a precious commodity and many industries are facing huge skills shortages. Online education has the power to accelerate an individual’s learning curve and teach the necessary skills of the future, at scale. Without really understanding your learners, you risk poor attrition, low outcomes, and brand damage. 

\n

Ignoring the person on the other end of the screen is no longer an option. Learner personas are a way of ensuring everyone on the design team knows who they are designing for and, therefore, smart decisions can be made and the maximum value for the course can be created. 

\n

What are you waiting for? Bring your team together today to create some ideal learner profiles for your online courses. You won’t regret it!

\n

\"6

\n
\n

This post was originally published here on VET:eXpress.

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