Keep the focus on the importance of user experience in elearning—how they will use, interact with and navigate around the website, system or product. Everything else follows from that—consistency of design and functionality; a hierarchical approach to enable easy navigation; an awareness of context, in particular the increased extent of mobile browsing; giving the user as much control as possible; accessibility for all users; and immediate feedback to the user when they perform an action, along with the ability to undo what they have done. And it’s well-recognised that UX design should be an iterative process, with the usability testing done by actual users.
Online learning has added a further dimension—“learner experience”, or user experience design for learning, with the emphasis focused on the learner:
Learning how to use an on-line learning course is not the primary task. Instead the prime aim of a learner-centered system should be how to create a stimulating environment so that the learner’s focus is on the task: acquiring knowledge. (Zaharias et al, 2002)
More recently, the Centre for Extended Learning (CEL) at the University of Waterloo in Canada tested a framework for user experience design for learning (UXDL) on undergraduate students and concluded:
[S]tudents value flexibility in how and when they learn, a clear organizational and navigational structure that renders content and assessment information easy to find, tools that are easy to use, present and engaged instructors, and an active community of peers. . . [S]tudents also value a mixture of media (text, visuals, infographics, videos) with regular interactive activities interpolated throughout content. Further, good visual and information design matters to them and impacts their attention and motivation. (Zeni et al, 2020)
Expect more useful research on user experience to come out of 2020’s pandemic lockdowns in countries where all levels of education had to be rapidly switched to online delivery.
“10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design” Jakob Nielsen 1994; updated 2020
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ten-usability-heuristics/
“Designing On-Line Learning Courses: Implications for Usability” Panagiotis Zaharias, Konstantina Vassilopoulou, and Angeliki Poulymenakoua 2002
“User Experience Design” Peter Morville 2004
http://semanticstudios.com/user_experience_design
“User Experience Design for Learning (UXDL)” Centre for Extended Learning (CEL) at the University of Waterloo
https://cms.cel.uwaterloo.ca/honeycomb/index.aspx
“The User Experience Design for Learning (UXDL) Framework: The Undergraduate Student Perspective” Meagan Troop, Darcy White, Kristin E. Wilson, Pia Zeni 2020
https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/cjsotl_rcacea/article/view/8328/11084