Rather, it’s the outcome of deliberate design choices about attention, energy, and comprehension. By designing for flow, you can create learning experiences that feel more natural and can be sustained over a longer period of time. Here are some key ingredients of flow to keep in mind:
Pacing. If you don’t allow for rest, people will burn out. And if you don’t provide enough stimulation, people will get bored. Finding a balance between the two keeps people engaged. For example, when you’re designing a learning experience, you might alternate between a meaty concept and an opportunity to practice it. In an experiential environment, you might balance heavy content with lighter, more absorptive experiences.
Transitions. People tend to overlook transitions, the way you get from one thing to another. But transitions are crucial to flow. A bad transition will always disrupt the experience. A good transition will preserve it. When transitions are handled well, people feel led, rather than pushed, from one experience to the next. They don’t feel disoriented or hurried. They’re ready for whatever comes next. And that helps people trust the experience.
Emotional progression. Learning isn’t just intellectual, it’s also emotional. There are times when people feel confident and times when they’re unsure. Times when they’re excited and times when they’re clear. If you know how people are likely to feel at different points during an experience, you can design the experience in a way that works with and responds to those feelings. For example, you might introduce new information gradually at times when people might feel overwhelmed. You might reinforce people’s understanding at moments when they’re most likely to need support. And you might allow people’s sense of confidence and competence to evolve gradually over time. The result is an experience that people can sustain over a longer period of time, rather than burning out, or getting distracted, after the first burst of inspiration.
Taken all together, flow is what turns a set of disparate events or activities into a cohesive, holistic experience. It helps people shift their attention away from how hard they’re trying and toward the meaning of the experience itself. It makes the experience feel organic, even when it’s been highly designed. And it allows you to create an experience that’s challenging but not overwhelming, an experience in which people can achieve a deep understanding that stays with them long after the experience is over.
