What is flow?
In psychology, the term flow refers to the mental state where the body and mind are in perfect harmony while performing an activity. In this state, which is often referred to as being “in the zone,” you are free from external and mental distractions and perform physical or mental activities naturally and spontaneously. You perform at your best because you’re free of your ego, external expectations and demands. Flow is conducive to productivity, creativity and innovation.
The most salient characteristic of flow is that it is devoid of distractions, blockages and interruptions; as the term suggests, everything flows.
In today’s busy world, flow is not easily attained. We are constantly bombarded by external and internal stimuli, and it usually requires a concerted effort to provide ourselves with the right conditions for flow. But when you enter a state of flow, it is a welcome respite from what Buddhists often refer to as the “monkey mind,” which tends to be our modus operandi most of the time.
Sometimes flow happens spontaneously when we find ourselves intrigued by something, such as a good book or fully engaged in a particular task, such as painting a picture or playing a sport. Sometimes flow requires initial effort, but once attained, it’s usually effortless. Reaching flow is about finding the balance between challenge and ability. If an activity is too challenging, it’s hard to achieve flow and if it’s too easy, boredom sets in. You’ll know you’re in a state of flow when you lose your sense of self and time.
The state of flow has often been compared to the meditative state. Both are highly beneficial states for our well-being but differ slightly. In the meditative state, the mind is aware of all distractions but is not controlled by them. The mind resides in the gap between awareness and thoughts/emotions/stimuli. In contrast, in the flow state, the mind is unaware of any distractions and is singularly focused on a particular activity. Flow is a powerful state in which the mind and body are performing at an optimal level, leading to our best creations and performances.
I have often heard top-performing musicians and sportspeople being asked what they were thinking during critical moments in their performance and the answer has typically been “nothing.” They are so focused on their performance that everything else fades into the background. It’s when they’re distracted that performance slips.
What’s flow got to do with e-learning design?
When e-learning is designed well, learners become fully engaged and absorb content spontaneously, often without realizing they’re learning. There are no blockages or interruptions to understanding and learning takes place spontaneously.
I would suggest that if the e-learning developer or instructional designer enters a state of flow in the process of creating e-learning, their output is more likely to embody the characteristics of flow.
So how do you design for flow? In the instructional design toolkit, the following strategies aid flow:
- Address the learner as if speaking directly to them.
- Make the content relevant to the learner (know your audience).
- Immerse the learner in a familiar context, scenario or story to create an emotional connection.
- Provide a social context by having the learner engage with characters.
- Challenge the learner at the right level of difficulty (know your audience).
- Use logical titles/headings/subheadings to provide immediate context.
- Present content so that it flows from the general to the specific.
- Keep the visual presentation simple and pleasing to the eye.
- Use short, simple sentences – in the present tense as much as possible.
- Make sure the content is clear, concise, correct and consistent.
If your e-learning content hits all the points above, there’s a high probability the content will flow effortlessly to learners. It will be absorbed by the senses and processed in the brain, and new neurons and connections will be created, which happens during learning. And in the process, the learner will find the experience engaging, informative and worthwhile.
Some new immersive learning methods make designing for flow easy. For example, immersive simulations place learners in a virtual dialogue and create a sense of presence and immediacy. By simulating real-life scenarios, the learner quickly becomes engaged on a cognitive and emotional level, and it greatly accelerates the flow of content to the learner.
When it comes to creating e-learning content, ideally, both the process and the outcome should epitomize flow.
