Let Me Ask You Something…
Have you ever walked into a classroom and immediately thought, “What in the world is going on in here?”
The desks are scattered. The whiteboard is off to the side. The projector isn’t where you expect it to be. Nothing is quite wrong… but nothing feels right either.
Now imagine trying to teach in that space.
Frustrating, right?
Or better yet—think about the last time a software you use all the time suddenly updated. You log in, ready to get something done quickly, and now… nothing is where it used to be. You’re clicking around, trying to find what should be obvious.
What should have taken five minutes now takes fifteen. Maybe twenty. And your patience? Gone.
Now one more.
You buy a new car or open a brand-new piece of software. No walkthrough. No instructions. Just a quiet expectation that you’ll figure it out… and perform well using it.
That pressure? That hesitation? That low-level frustration?
That’s exactly how many of our students feel when they enter our online courses.
It’s Not Just About Content—It’s About Experience
As faculty, we care deeply about our content. We spend hours preparing lectures, designing assignments, and selecting readings that reflect our discipline.
But here’s the part we don’t always think about:
Students don’t experience our courses the way we build them.
They experience them the way they have to navigate them.
And those are two very different things.
You know your course inside and out. You know where everything is. You know what comes next.
Your students?
They’re walking in for the first time.
The Hidden Frustration Students Don’t Always Say Out Loud
Most students won’t email you and say:
“I’m overwhelmed because I can’t find anything in your course.”
Instead, it shows up in other ways:
- Missed assignments
- Late submissions
- Repeated questions that are already answered somewhere in the course
- Lower engagement
- Quiet frustration that slowly turns into disengagement
And here’s the tricky part…
It’s easy to assume the issue is motivation.
But often, the issue is navigation.
When Every Course Feels Different, Everything Feels Harder
Now zoom out for a second.
Your course isn’t the only one your students are taking.
Imagine being enrolled in four or five online classes at the same time, and:
- Each course organizes content differently
- Assignments are located in different places
- Navigation menus vary widely
- Instructions are formatted inconsistently
Now every time a student switches courses, they have to stop and figure out:
“Okay… how does this one work again?”
That mental reset takes effort.
And that effort adds up.
Cognitive Overload Is Real (Even If We Don’t Call It That)
Here’s what’s happening behind the scenes.
Every time students have to:
- Search for materials
- Decode confusing layouts
- Guess where to click next
They’re using mental energy.
And that energy isn’t going toward learning your content.
If students are spending more time figuring out where things are than engaging with what they’re learning, we’ve created a barrier we didn’t intend.
Not because we don’t care.
But because we didn’t design with the user experience in mind.
And Let’s Be Honest… Our Students Are Busy
Today’s students aren’t just “students.”
They’re:
- Working full-time or part-time
- Caring for families
- Managing financial stress
- Returning to school after years away
- Trying to balance multiple responsibilities at once
They don’t have extra time to hunt for assignments or guess their way through a course.
They need clarity. Consistency. Simplicity.
Not because they’re incapable.
Because they’re human.
So Here’s the Big Question
What if the problem isn’t that students aren’t trying hard enough…
What if the problem is that we’re making them work too hard just to get started?
What’s Coming Next
This post is just the beginning.
In this series, we’re going to break down:
- Why students spend more time looking than learning
- How inconsistent course design increases frustration
- What “good” navigation actually looks like in an LMS
- Simple ways to make your course easier to use—without redesigning everything
Because your content matters.
But if students can’t easily access and engage with it…
They may never fully experience the value you worked so hard to create.
Final Thought
Your course might make perfect sense to you… because you built it.
But your students?
They’re walking in for the first time.
Call to Action
Take a quick look at your course this week.
Log in as if you were a student seeing it for the first time.
Ask yourself:
- Where would I click first?
- Can I easily find this week’s work?
- Would I feel confident… or confused?
You might be surprised by what you notice.