The Future Of Learning Experience Design With Tom McDowall

WHY EXPERIENCE DESIGN SHOULD BE THE BACKBONE OF L&D

Let’s be honest, workplace learning is rarely designed with the learner in mind. Too often, content gets dumped into a platform, dressed up with a quiz, and pushed live with a hope and a Slack message. The problem? That’s not learning design. That’s content distribution.

In Episode 4 of the Marketing for Learning podcast, Han sits down with Tom McDowall — instructional designer, podcast host, and one of the clearest voices in the L&D space — to talk about why experience design should be at the heart of every learning initiative.

In this episode, we explore why great learning outcomes don’t start with content. They start with carefully crafted design. That means considering how the experience flows. How people navigate it. How it feels. And how it fits into their actual day-to-day context, not an idealised version of it.

Tom shares insights into what L&D can learn from UX, product, and service design, disciplines that have long prioritised user needs, context, and iteration. We talk about designing with the user, not just for them. And why it’s time for L&D to ditch the “one and done” course mentality and embrace a more iterative, user-led approach to learning.

We also tackle one of the biggest challenges in L&D: assumptions. The assumption that content is enough. That your LMS is intuitive. That your audience is motivated. That they’ll “just get it.”

A better approach? Test. Observe. Ask questions. Then design around what’s real, not what’s easy.

This episode is a reminder that good content, badly delivered, is still bad learning. And that friction kills engagement faster than a boring eLearning course ever will.

If L&D wants to be seen as a strategic partner, not just a content house, it has to take experience seriously. Because design isn’t a luxury. It’s the job.