When artists want to make jaw dropping visual effects or create worlds in 3D for their animated characters to inhabit they go to Maya. The challenge that so many beginning artists face is the complexity of the software. All of the tools are there, everything you need in one package. The problem is when you open up the software, it isn’t clear how to start. Its not your iPhone. Students need training, and many artists quit before they reach any success because the learning curve is just too steep.

Sounds like the perfect job for a learning experience designer! I took great pleasure in taking something that was unusable for students and created a path that allowed learners to be successful from day one.

You might ask, “How does one design an experience for really difficult software? Where do you even begin?” You start with a destination. Determine where you want a student to be at the end of the day or end of the quarter and work backwards. What are the skills needed to reach that destination? In what order do those skills need to mastered? Once you have a list of skills you can determine projects and exercises that allow the student to learn the tasks for themselves. True learning happens through doing. That means cutting out the long lectures. Shorts demos to get the student started and then let them try things out!