At first glance, the phrase desirable difficulties sounds like a contradiction. After all, why would anyone intentionally make learning more difficult? Shouldn't the goal of instructional design be to reduce frustration, simplify complex ideas, and help learners succeed as efficiently as possible?
The answer is yes...and no.
Good instructional design absolutely removes unnecessary barriers. Confusing navigation, unclear instructions, inaccessible materials, and excessive cognitive load make learning harder without making it better. However, not every difficulty is a barrier. Some challenges actually strengthen learning because they require learners to think more deeply, retrieve information from memory, and apply what they know in meaningful ways. Those challenges are what learning scientists call desirable difficulties.
For instructional designers, understanding this distinction is essential. Courses should not overwhelm learners with needless complexity, but neither should they make every task so effortless that students never have to think. Learning becomes more durable when it requires appropriate mental effort. This article explores what desirable difficulties are, why they improve learning, and how instructional designers can intentionally incorporate them into course design without creating unnecessary frustration.
What Are Desirable Difficulties?
The term desirable difficulties was introduced by psychologist Robert Bjork to describe learning conditions that make practice feel more challenging while producing stronger long-term retention. These strategies often slow down initial performance because learners must work harder during the learning process. Ironically, that extra effort frequently leads to better understanding and longer-lasting memory.
This can feel counterintuitive for both instructors and learners. When students answer every practice question easily or move quickly through instructional materials, everyone tends to assume learning is happening successfully. Yet immediate success does not necessarily predict long-term retention. Sometimes the activities that feel easiest produce the weakest memories.
Desirable difficulties encourage learners to actively reconstruct knowledge instead of simply recognizing familiar information. They create productive effort rather than unnecessary struggle, helping learners build stronger mental connections that remain available long after the course has ended.
Easy Learning Can Be Misleading
One reason desirable difficulties seem surprising is that learners often mistake familiarity for mastery. Reading notes several times, highlighting textbooks, or watching the same lecture repeatedly creates a comforting sense of recognition. Everything looks familiar, so learners naturally assume they know the material well.
Unfortunately, recognition and recall are very different things.
Imagine looking at a list of vocabulary words five times before taking a quiz. The words may seem obvious while reading them, but when the list disappears, recalling those same words from memory often proves much harder. The repeated reading created familiarity, not necessarily durable learning.
Instructional designers should therefore be cautious about equating smooth performance during instruction with meaningful learning. Sometimes the activities that feel easiest produce the quickest forgetting.
Retrieval Is a Desirable Difficulty
One of the most effective desirable difficulties is retrieval practice.
Whenever learners attempt to remember information without immediately looking at their notes, they strengthen the memory pathways associated with that information. Practice quizzes, short reflections, classroom discussions, and low-stakes knowledge checks all encourage learners to retrieve knowledge rather than simply review it.
Retrieval often feels more difficult than rereading because learners experience moments of uncertainty. They may hesitate before answering or realize they cannot remember as much as they expected. While that uncertainty can feel discouraging, it actually provides valuable information about what learners truly know.
Instructional designers can build retrieval opportunities throughout a course rather than relying solely on major exams. Small moments of recall, repeated over time, often produce stronger learning than one large review session before an assessment.
Spacing Helps Learning Last
Another desirable difficulty involves spacing learning over time instead of concentrating it into a single study session.
Many learners prefer cramming because it creates the impression of rapid progress. Information remains fresh in memory immediately after studying, making learners feel well prepared. Unfortunately, much of that information fades quickly because it has never been retrieved after beginning to disappear.
Spacing introduces a useful challenge by requiring learners to revisit information after some forgetting has already occurred. Retrieving partially forgotten knowledge requires more effort than recalling information learned only minutes earlier. That additional effort strengthens memory and improves long-term retention.
Instructional designers can support spaced learning by revisiting important concepts throughout a course rather than teaching them once and never mentioning them again. Repeated encounters across multiple modules help learners build knowledge that lasts beyond the final exam.
Interleaving Encourages Better Thinking
Many courses organize practice into neat categories. Students solve ten similar problems in a row, then move to the next concept and repeat the process. While this approach feels organized, it can unintentionally encourage pattern recognition instead of genuine understanding.
Interleaving takes a different approach by mixing related concepts together during practice. Learners must decide which strategy applies before solving the problem rather than automatically using the same approach repeatedly.
This often feels more difficult because students cannot rely on repetition alone. They must think about what they know, compare alternatives, and choose an appropriate solution. Although initial performance may seem slower, interleaving often produces stronger transfer because learners become better at recognizing when different concepts apply.
Vary the Context
Learners sometimes struggle to apply knowledge because they have encountered a concept only within one specific example or situation. They associate the idea with that particular context rather than understanding the broader principle behind it.
Instructional designers can strengthen learning by presenting important concepts in multiple settings. A discussion about effective feedback might begin with education, continue through workplace supervision, and later appear in healthcare or customer service scenarios. Although the situations differ, the underlying principles remain consistent.
This variation creates another desirable difficulty because learners must recognize patterns instead of memorizing examples. Over time, they become better at identifying opportunities to apply their knowledge in unfamiliar situations.
Productive Effort Is Different From Frustration
Not every challenge qualifies as a desirable difficulty.
Confusing instructions, inaccessible materials, broken links, inconsistent navigation, and unrealistic workloads all create unnecessary obstacles. These challenges consume mental energy without improving learning. Instead of encouraging deeper thinking, they simply frustrate learners.
Desirable difficulties, by contrast, require effort that directly contributes to understanding. Solving an authentic problem, retrieving information from memory, comparing competing ideas, or applying knowledge in a new situation all demand cognitive effort while supporting meaningful learning.
The difference lies in the purpose of the challenge. If learners work harder because they are thinking more deeply, the difficulty is likely desirable. If they work harder because the course itself is confusing, the design needs improvement.
Feedback Keeps Difficulties Desirable
Even productive challenges require support.
Learners benefit from timely feedback that helps them understand why an answer was correct, where misconceptions occurred, and what they should try next. Without guidance, desirable difficulties can gradually become discouraging because learners lose confidence in their ability to succeed.
Feedback transforms challenge into learning. Instead of simply revealing mistakes, it helps learners refine their thinking while reinforcing correct understanding. This combination of effort and feedback creates a powerful learning cycle where each challenge contributes to future success.
Instructional designers should therefore view feedback as an essential partner to desirable difficulties rather than something that happens after learning is complete.
Design Challenges With Purpose
The goal of desirable difficulties is never to make courses harder simply for the sake of difficulty.
Every challenge should serve a learning purpose. Learners should retrieve information because retrieval strengthens memory. They should analyze realistic scenarios because those situations resemble future professional practice. They should revisit concepts over time because spacing improves retention.
When instructional designers understand the reason behind each challenge, they become much better at distinguishing meaningful effort from unnecessary complexity. Learners experience courses that are intellectually engaging without becoming overwhelming.
That balance is one of the defining characteristics of thoughtful instructional design.
Final Thoughts
Desirable difficulties remind us that learning is not always most effective when it feels easiest. Sometimes the moments that require learners to pause, retrieve information, compare ideas, and work through uncertainty become the moments they remember most clearly.
Instructional designers can intentionally create these opportunities by incorporating retrieval practice, spaced learning, interleaving, varied contexts, and authentic application throughout a course. Combined with clear guidance and timely feedback, these strategies help learners develop knowledge that lasts well beyond the next assessment.
The goal is not making learning more difficult.
It is making learning more durable.
Sometimes the path that requires a little more effort is the one learners remember long after the course is over.
References
Bjork, R. A., & Bjork, E. L. (2011). Making things hard on yourself, but in a good way: Creating desirable difficulties to enhance learning. In M. A. Gernsbacher, R. W. Pew, L. M. Hough, & J. R. Pomerantz (Eds.), Psychology and the real world: Essays illustrating fundamental contributions to society (pp. 56–64). Worth.
Brown, P. C., Roediger, H. L., III, & McDaniel, M. A. (2014). Make it stick: The science of successful learning. Harvard University Press.
Kirschner, P. A., & Hendrick, C. (2020). How learning happens: Seminal works in educational psychology and what they mean in practice. Routledge.
Roediger, H. L., III, & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17(3), 249–255.
Soderstrom, N. C., & Bjork, R. A. (2015). Learning versus performance: An integrative review. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10(2), 176–199.