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I was (re-)reading John Maeda’s article on the new iPod Nano in the online edition of Business Week this morning. I had started the article about his article over a year ago, and—looking at it again—thought that some aspects still were true. So I rewrote it and came up with this:

Maeda was writing about how the designers of the iPod no longer had to worry about technical issues and that their task was to create an “entire experience of delivery.”

Is it not enough to deliver content in any form whatsoever? Do we have to make an experience out of everything? I thought, is this true about e-learning? And what do we make of the presentation of content presently available in Learning Management Systems (LMS) or, to keep up with the latest terms, a Personal Learning Environment (PLE) (cp. Atwell 2007, PDF)? In other words, does simple or even simplistic design really matter in e-learning? Or would we rather have a full service package experience to make the learning experience more successful?

I’d love to start with a quote from Maeda’s article, which already points to the conclusion I want to make:

Yet in adding features to improve the user’s experience, there is a danger—people want more of a good thing: more colorful transitions, more icons that flip back and forth, and more options that can fulfill every possible fantasy. If we follow this trajectory to its seemingly inevitable conclusion, we could find ourselves asking a simple question of our iPod: “So, how do I play a song on this thing?” Just think of today’s mobile phones, which have “evolved” to the point that it’s not obvious how to make a phone call.

Is it not that we tend to loose sight of the main feature in e-learning by speaking and researching too much about the features we need for the administration of our students and the goodies they allegedly need? The main feature, I think should be the “learning” in e-learning and not the “e”. What Maeda always claims for interfaces in general, one might also claim for e-learning. The functionality of LMS and most CMS which are also used for e-learning purposes has to focus on ‘how to play a song,’ or, in our case, how to guarantee the learning success of the users. If this is agreed upon, we should try and assemble a list of claims for any e-learning environment.

1. Throw out the features which are an obstacle to the learning success. LMS tend to get stuffed full of features which require the users to maintain their accounts and messages and to have a look at their dates and deadlines (which they tend to overlook at times). They sometimes keep them from accessing the content.
2. There’s danger that a PLE might also become a Swiss Army Knife as Maeda puts it for the iPod. We are adding wiki systems, blogging systems, messaging systems to the already existing forums, chats and upload possibilities. Let us rather focus on the content that has to be delivered to the learner and then decide which technology can support this delivery. Wiki systems are great for the creation of certain kinds of text types, blogs are superb for learner diaries. But still, let’s not forget the expert teaching how to keep apart important from unimportant.
3. E-Learning should use the power of good web design to support and enhance the learning experience. Web design is not only about how things look good on the web. It is most notably about usability. The visual part only supports the usability. Thus, a well design learning environment—personal or not—can be the beginning of a better learning experience because the content is delivered without any obstacles.

Maybe it’s a bit unscientific to speculate about this only because John Maeda wrote something about the iPod. Therefore, I will keep up researching to prove my point .