Aaron Silvers on Designing Experiences

Problem Solutions’ chief learning officer Aaron Silvers is on a mission to get people to rethink two things: content creation and how people think of learning.

“We’re coming out of an age in the learning technology field where we’ve been really focused on creating resources (or) content,” he told Float’s Jeff Tillett at the second annual Float Mobile Learning Symposium. But Aaron doesn’t think learning should stop at content. “It’s a means into something bigger,” he said, adding that multiple pieces of content spur conversations, which in turn leads to that content being available on different media. The person now has more than a resource; he or she has an entire experience to rely on.

Aaron is also aiming to change learning, and he wants to do that by designing experiences.

“I think for way too long, way too many people have been thinking about learning in terms of being a noun,” Aaron said. “And I’m trying to highlight the fact that learning, throughout human history, is a verb.”

During his session at the Symposium, held at 1871 in conjunction with Techweek, Aaron imparted what he’s learned about designing experiences. Specifically, he pulled out three principles from media scholar Henry Jenkins to explain this concept to the audience: the place, the structure and the performance.

The goal, he said, isn’t to lead people directly to the learning event or the experience. Rather, “allow people to take their own path to it.”

By doing this, people can reach what Aaron calls a Miyagi moment – “the moment when you finally get it.”