Simple, concise and consistent

I was fortunate enough to learn about how Articulate works. We showed our subject matter experts on converting PowerPoint lectures to e-learning using Articulate Studio (now 360). The great opportunity there was to allow flexibility for our learners so that they could watch these modules at their own time. Our learners are medical students, so imagine the load of medical information they have to learn in a given amount of time.

After getting feedback from our students, we learned a big thing. A game-changer is that we want to make sure that we show them we value their time. We focused on learner-centered experience. Much to our great surprise, our students appreciate it and felt like they were more in control of their learning when the modules are simplified, concise, and consistent. This also made our subject matter experts happier because it helped them organize how they delivered the material in a meaningful way. The bottom line is to keep things simple yet concise and useful and keep this consistent. All the fancy buttons and transitions are merely distractions. Content, when written well, speaks for itself. Learners (users) will take away more from what we expect. Have faith. Instill confidence and cultivate the power of curiosity. People are inherently curious. Adults want to drive their own learning. It is amazing what happens when we give them space and freedom to figure things out and let them question things than reading and listening to the bulleted points word for word. Value both of our learner and our subject matter experts. Allow the possibility to facilitate a relationship between the teacher and student. We can also save money by keeping things simple. At the end of the day, all learning materials are products. When we design products with a lot of features, we can lose sight of the message of the product.

These are my own thoughts and views from our personal experience working closely with subject matter experts and students. We learned so much from the value of simplicity, the power of people, curiosity, and desire to learn. We are thankful for the honor working at the Ohio State University College of Medicine.

UX/UI

When I left home for the university. I never imagined years later, I would be sitting like a lotus flower typing about my experience and desire to keep learning something new. I have always had a deep love for Liberal Arts and Social and Behavioral Sciences. It cultivated a quiet appreciation for exploration and discoveries. These discoveries were not just reading unaffordable used textbooks, but meeting people from diverse backgrounds, living frugality, working in retail while putting myself through school to pay for my food and housing; a girl always falling in and out of love, overcoming adversity, fostering friendships, enjoying the moment. It has opened doors to dimensions I could never imagine if I had not taken the leap of faith to just do.

I have been exploring UX Design on my own. As a side note, the fact that I moved to California without a job lined up was a crazy romanticized move. With this newfound experience of a kick in the pants status, rather than pining or lamenting for a formal UX/UI education, I took on a challenge of exploring alternative kinds of learning environments to study it instead of that high-priced tuition from an institution I couldn't financially justify. Right now, the silly thing to be grateful for is that I have the time and space, health, soul and openness to the experience of finding and crafting my own curriculum. My time is valuable, and I want to use it learning something new and getting myself in a new healthy headspace. I realize this is a considerable risk, but why make it safe, with not knowing or if Karl the Fog flirting with me, there is an excellent opportunity for building an emotional connection. After all, I want to find the true meaning of user experience. To build empathy, moments of struggle, frustration must be there. I could make myself miserable by being in pity mode "woe-is-me-mode," or I could have fun with comment bubbles of self-discovery. Adversity is embraced as I open my heart space. In the meantime, lean back, breath, and exhale and let the lyrics of moving this soul be allowed to flourish. Thank you for your space. Thank you for your love of learning. Thanks for embracing this moment. Here we go.

Here’s a start:

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