Designing eLearning people actually finish

Completion rates are a blunt measure, but they reveal something important: when learners abandon a course, the design usually gave them a reason to. The good news is that most of those reasons are fixable.

Start with what learners need to do

A course outline built from topics ("Introduction to passwords", "Types of MFA") invites passive reading. An outline built from tasks ("Create a passphrase you can remember", "Turn on MFA for your email") invites action. Write outcomes as observable behaviours, then design every screen to move the learner toward one of them.

Make the first two minutes count

• Open with a relatable problem, not a list of objectives.
• Get the learner to make a decision early — a choice, a prediction, a quick poll.
• Show progress clearly so the course feels finite.

Feedback is where learning happens

"Correct!" and "Incorrect" teach almost nothing. Good feedback explains why an answer is right, addresses the misconception behind a wrong answer, and points to the next step. It's the cheapest, highest-impact improvement you can make to an existing course.

Interactivity is not clicking. Interactivity is thinking, then seeing the consequence of that thinking.

Respect attention

Chunk content into short sections, cut anything that doesn't serve an outcome, and use motion and media only when they clarify. Accessibility — keyboard support, captions, readable contrast — isn't an add-on; it's part of respecting every learner's attention.

Try it

The micro-course in the Experience Lab applies each of these principles in a short, three-minute lesson on password security.