It's "easy" to course-correct when you're a face-to-face trainer: you can see straight away in learners' eyes whether the light switches on or off. But in digital learning, reactions can't be seen in real time. They have to be foreseen, anticipated, compensated for, relying on motivational levers we can predict in advance.

Starting from raw content to build a training programme without ever going through the "personas" step (with their fundamental needs, motivational levers and fears) is a guarantee of missing the mark for a good share of participants. To avoid deviant practices — like frantically clicking "next" purely to validate the module on the LMS rather than to actually learn (yes, it happens, and you know it very well) — two approaches are possible, and can be combined:

1. Make the learner a captive of the module: through "Dark UX", they're prevented from moving forward until every requested action is completed, such as answering a question correctly to unlock the next button.
2. Design a journey that's engaging, relevant and cognitively ergonomic, triggering a "wow" effect while staying grounded in real-world practice.

I'll admit a clear preference for the second option: making sure every person, with their own specific needs, finds pleasure in learning throughout the journey.

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Motivation isn't a given starting point

Very often, when a training programme fails, the verdict comes down: "the learners weren't motivated." Yet the reality is more subtle. Motivation isn't an ingredient you "add" to a training programme after the fact. It's a dynamic state that emerges, holds — or fades — depending on how the experience was designed, and the meaning given to each action.

In other words, if the experience is clear, coherent and aligned with the user's goals, motivation emerges naturally. If it's vague, disconnected or too generic, engagement drops sharply.

It all starts with understanding your audience

To design well, you have to go back to the very start of the process and ask a simple question: who are our learners, really?

Don't stop at their job title or hierarchical level. Go further. Identify their time constraints, psychological barriers, relationship to digital tools, mental load and history with training. We never train a homogeneous group, but a diversity of profiles. This is where cognitive psychology and motivation theories become essential: they let us anticipate these individual differences.

The learning project: where it all really begins

In adult education, this is referred to as an "engagement drive" or learning project (a concept central to Philippe Carré's work). In psycho-pedagogy, it's the notion of a "project of meaning" that Antoine de la Garanderie identified as the first mental gesture underpinning all others (memorisation, comprehension…).

If this projection is clear, the learner understands what they're going to do, why they're doing it, and above all the direct benefit for their daily life. Their entry into the training is made easier. If it's vague or implicit, engagement becomes fragile and motivation evaporates. Well-designed "training marketing" upstream helps hook interest: announcing benefits in a pitch, or a beta-tester's testimonial. Instructional design then takes over: it's not enough to state the objectives once at the start — they need to be reactivated, made explicit and contextualised as they're achieved throughout the journey.

Different learners, therefore different levers

Even within a targeted sample, profiles remain heterogeneous. This is where a model like SONCAS, although purely commercial in origin, offers a pragmatic reading grid once transposed to attentional needs.

Some learners need to be reassured: they'll respond to clear guidance and a secure interface. Others seek recognition and will be motivated by having their progress acknowledged. Others still will thrive on novelty or intellectual challenge, while some will aim for efficiency and immediate simplicity. A good training programme doesn't try to speak to a single profile; it skilfully combines these different levers.

Sustaining engagement: Flow and the Zone of Proximal Development

Once the target audience is understood, how do you sustain that engagement over time? Two scientific concepts fit together perfectly here.

Lasting engagement lies precisely in maintaining this dynamic balance.

Beware the trap of cosmetic gamification

At this stage, it's tempting to believe gamification will solve everything. Be careful. Many programmes limit themselves to external reward mechanisms (points, badges, leaderboards). While this can support a journey that's already well designed, the risk is replacing intrinsic motivation with purely extrinsic motivation. As soon as the reward disappears, engagement collapses.

That said, let's not throw everything out. Behaviourism helps us understand some genuinely useful mechanisms. When a behaviour is positively reinforced, its likelihood of recurring increases. This is a powerful approach for anchoring procedures, professional gestures or automatic responses. Scripting certain segments of a journey using behaviourist techniques is relevant for memorising fundamentals, provided they're then remobilised in more complex transfer tasks. Because behaviourism alone isn't enough to build deep understanding or real-world transfer.

At its core, motivation rests on fundamental human needs

To take a step back, let's draw on a solid, validated theoretical framework: Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan). It shows that intrinsic motivation (the most lasting kind) rests on the satisfaction of three fundamental psychological needs: autonomy, competence and relatedness (or social belonging).

How do we translate all this into multimodal Learning Experience Design?

• For autonomy, offer cognitive flexibility. The learner can choose or combine formats (audio, video, infographics enriched through the dual coding principle), adjust the pace, or opt for an exploratory path rather than a strictly linear one. Asynchronous e-learning then makes complete sense, letting them learn at their own pace.
• For competence, macro-objectives are broken down into clear milestones, making progress toward higher levels visible and rewarding.
• For relatedness, storytelling can activate a sense of identification with a community of peers. Even better if the journey includes social mechanics: virtual classroom workshops, working subgroups or asynchronous discussion spaces (Teams, Slack) to bring a human dimension to the content journey.

Ultimately, motivation isn't an isolated variable or a cosmetic option. It's the major gateway into the LXD approach. It requires us to stop designing our programmes starting from the mass of content to be delivered, and instead start from the human being who will live the experience.

This is precisely where the difference lies between training that transmits... and training that transforms.