Why Great Learning Is Like Hearing Your Favorite Song for the First Time

Discover how to design emotionally impactful, human-centered learning that sticks. Learn how learning experience design transforms content into connection.

Remember the first time you heard one of your favorite songs? You didn’t just hear it—you felt it. Maybe it caught you off guard on a drive home. Or perhaps it boomed through your earbuds during a workout. Maybe the lyrics landed first, or the beat drew you in. For a moment, everything else fell away.

Great learning should feel the same way.

Sadly, most training programs don’t even come close. They deliver facts, check boxes, and then move on. But learning experience design (LXD) flips the script; it aims to create moments that connect deeply, emotionally, and memorably. In a recent ELB Learning webinar, Niels Floor, learning experience design pioneer at Shapers, shared practical insights into how this approach transforms training from passive consumption to meaningful engagement.

Experience isn’t extra, it’s the structure.
In LXD, experience isn’t something you add to learning—it is the learning. Defined broadly, experience refers to any time-bound situation that leaves an impression. That includes the classroom, of course, but it also includes the hallway conversation after class, the tough quiz, and the moment something clicks.

When you recognize that learning happens through experience, you unlock a designer’s full toolkit. You’re no longer just sequencing content—you’re orchestrating environments, emotions, and actions that shape how learning truly unfolds.

Emotion drives retention.
Facts fade. Feelings last. That’s why that song stuck with you, because it touched you emotionally. If your training doesn’t evoke emotion, learners are less likely to retain what they’ve seen or heard. That’s not a shortcoming of attention spans; it’s just how we’re wired. Emotion is the glue that anchors lessons in lived experience.

The goal isn’t to add fluff or fun for its own sake. The goal is to create relevance, connection, even tension—whatever best supports the learner’s journey. Maybe it’s the pride felt after mastering a challenge, the frustration of trial and error, or a quiet moment of personal reflection. Designing with emotion in mind helps learning stick in ways that content alone just can’t.

Leverage the Peak-End Rule.
To make your training more memorable, design for the moments that truly matter. According to the Peak-End Rule, people don’t remember every detail of an experience. They remember the emotional highs and lows—and how it ended. That means your learning program doesn’t need to be emotionally intense from start to finish, but it does need well-placed peaks, and a closing moment that sticks the landing.

That peak might be a powerful scenario, a surprising revelation, or a meaningful piece of feedback. The end might be a reflection, a call to action, or even a moment of celebration. Plan these moments with intention; they’re what learners will carry with them afterward.

Human-centered, goal-oriented design.
The strongest learning designs are both human-centered and goal-oriented. That means putting learners at the heart of every decision and designing experiences that help them reach meaningful, identified goals.

Human-centered design starts with empathy. You don’t assume what your learners want or need—you find out. You research, interview, observe, and test. And you don’t just design for learners—you involve them in the process. That might mean co-creating with them, running early prototypes, or simply listening to their feedback.

Goal-oriented design goes beyond standard learning objectives. It considers the broader personal, professional, or organizational goals your learners care about. What behavior needs to change? What capabilities are you building toward? Good design connects learning outcomes to real-life aspirations.

Less about content, more about context.
Many training programs are content-heavy but context-poor. They focus on what to deliver, not how or why it matters. LXD flips that approach. It asks: Who is this learner? What does their day look like? What motivates or frustrates them? What will this learning mean to them today and six months from now?

From there, the learning experience can take many forms, from interactive simulations to real-world tasks, games, peer collaboration, or even physical movement. The format doesn’t matter as much as the fit does. Every element should serve both the learner’s context and the learning goal.

Design is an iterative process.
Great learning experiences aren’t built all at once. They’re prototyped, tested, and refined. LXD embraces an iterative mindset. You try something, get feedback, adjust, and repeat. That process doesn’t slow things down; it sharpens the outcome. When learners are involved throughout, the result is more relevant, engaging, and effective.

Learning that resonates, long after it ends.
Think again about the first time you heard one of your favorite songs. You didn’t just remember it because it sounded nice. You remembered it because it spoke to you. It happened at the right moment. It meant something.

That’s what learning experience design aims to do: create training that means something. It’s not the kind of training that checks a box; it carries a beat that keeps playing long after the lesson ends.

If you want to dive deeper into learning experience design, watch the full webinar (below) and explore how to turn your training into an experience worth remembering.

Need help designing learning experiences that truly resonate? Schedule a free consultation with ELB Learning to explore how our expert consultants can help bring your next project to life.

Book A Call

Disclaimer: The ideas, perspectives, and strategies shared in this article reflect the expertise of our featured speaker, Niels Floor. Be sure to follow him on LinkedIn to explore more of his insights.