Recipe of a Ritual
As designers, we shape the landscapes of learning. 🏞️
It's not just about creating interactive courses or relevant content; it's about crafting experiences that leave a lasting imprint on the learners. And here's a little secret weapon that can take your learning design from good to unforgettable – rituals.
Think of rituals as the secret ingredients that infuse life and character into the learning process. They're the sprinkle of magic that transforms compulsory training into a memorable journey.
But what makes a good ritual? The way I look at it, good rituals consist of 5 things:
Purpose 🏔️
Repeatability 🔄
Predictability 🗓️
Community 🫂
Flexibility 🧶
Let’s unpack each of these!
#1 Purpose 🏔️
Why? A ritual without purpose is like a GPS without a destination. For a ritual to work - the purpose should be very clear. In a learning experience, the purpose could be one/ more of the following:
Incentivise desirable behaviours
Build a sense of community
Shift the mental state of your learner
Cultivate self-awareness
Celebrate learning milestones & achievements
Prime learners for a specific kind of activity
Example: During the People Leadership Fellowship at NextLeap we wanted to ensure that learners into the ‘learning mode’ on a weekend. We designed a ritual for the beginning of each session - icebreakers that got learners to talk and/or switch on their video.
#2 Repeatability 🔄
Why? Repetition creates familiarity, and familiarity breeds comfort. When you engage in a learning ritual repeatedly, your brain goes, "Ah, I know this!" It becomes a comforting routine, making the learning process feel less daunting.
Keep in mind, that repetition does not mean all the time! Think what is the most effective frequency for your ritual to repeat. Repeatability can be based on:
Time (E.g. Every instance, every day/ week/ month)
Milestones (E.g. Beginning of a module, ending of a module)
Events (E.g. Someone asks a great question, a birthday, a festival)
Example: Two years back I was a part of a writing club. The ritual designed to build accountability was simple - post an image/link to the article you wrote every day for 30 days on the WhatsApp group.
#3 Predictability 🗓️
Why? Predictability reduces anxiety and creates a sense of control. When you know what to expect, your mind can focus on learning instead of worrying about what's coming next.
Predictability could be in the form of:
Scheduling
Process
Format
Outcome
Example: Earlier this year, I took the course Nervous System Mastery with Jonny Miller. Every live session had a ritual of getting into breakout rooms with peers - 2-3 people to deepen our understanding. The breakout rooms were always 6-12 mins, with specific questions that each of us had to reflect & share. Having a clear ritual around engaging with peers helped in priming me and made me look forward to that part of the session every week.
#4 Community 🫂
Why? Learning is more enjoyable and effective when shared. A community provides support, diverse perspectives, and a sense of belonging, turning your solo learning ritual into a group celebration.
Let the community not be a force-fit though. Think of what parts of the ritual should be done in the community & which are best done alone. Community rituals are great for:
Building accountability
Creating a sense of belonging
Getting diverse perspectives
Facilitating peer-to-peer learning
Celebrating achievements/ milestones/ progress
Example: Last year I attended the Course Design Accelerator by Dr. Phillipa Hardman. Every session had a peer feedback ritual built into it - you do the pre-work, come to the session & get feedback from your peers. The conversation in breakout rooms was so enriching that even though managing time was hard, I would prioritise the pre-work so that I could get feedback from my peers.
#5 Flexibility 🧶
Why? Being too rigid can lead to frustration. A flexible ritual adapts to the evolving needs and circumstances of your learners & experience.
A few ways in which you can design for this:
Co-create rituals with your learners
Run small experiments - institutionalise what sticks
Take periodic feedback from them
Based on that - adapt & change
Example: While running LxD Lab, Harsh & I experimented a bunch with different rituals for the community - from weekly update emails to designing community calls in a certain way. By the end of 3 months, we’d figured out what works for us!
In a Nutshell 🌰
Learning rituals can help you make learning experiences more meaningful, memorable & enjoyable.
As learning experience designers, weave these ingredients into your design, creating rituals that can help you build transformative experiences!