Waller explained, "An architect designs buildings to be aesthetic, efficient, functional, and user friendly, but they should also be pleasant to work or live in - in other words, fit for their purpose. A learning architect designs learning solutions that are synergistic with the way people learn and work in their organisation.

"Working independently and with no preconceptions or assumptions, WHLA concentrates entirely on finding the best solution to the learning or performance shortfall."

Just as a firm of building architects will survey the building site, has the soil analysed to determine to what depth the foundations need to be, and so on, WHLA will carry out a Site Survey to examine many factors, including how the learners themselves work and learn and the culture of learning within the organisation. This ensures that the learning solution is built on firm foundations.

Importantly, the information gathered is used by WHLA to determine the design of the learning solution and not just to modify or reinforce a solution that has already been decided on.

Following this Site Survey, WHLA creates a Learning Blueprint for the learning solution, concentrating on:

• the needs of the learners
• the needs of the organisation, and
• fitting the solution to the people rather than the people to the solution.

In this way, stated Waller, "WHLA are architects of learning and performance solutions that will fit with the way people live, learn, and work."


Having created the Learning Blueprint, this becomes the property of the client, and they can then proceed their own way if they so wish. WHLA can either find and manage a team of the best and most experienced learning minds in the country for the project's needs from WHLA's extensive range of contacts or assist the client in realising the programme themselves using the latest tools for learning, such as an LMS, LCMS, rapid authoring tools, and collaboration tools.

WHLA can also serve as project manager for the entire process, from the initial briefing through to implementation and either provide an Assisted Self-Build Process or a Managed Build Service.

"In doing this, we bring our clients our unparalleled breadth and depth of knowledge, contacts, and experience in this constantly evolving field," Hart explained. A whitepaper that details the WHLA learning-design approach is available from the website http://www.whla.co.uk


Using over 45 years of experience in this field, covering education, lifelong, and organisational learning, Waller and Hart have developed a unique and revolutionary learning-design process that challenges the conventional way of interpreting learning and business needs. The end results are challenging and effective learning interventions specifically designed with the learners' needs in mind.

Jane Hart, a well-known author in the field of learning technologies; the founder of the e-Learning Centre; a former senior lecturer in IT; and a learning technologies adviser in the Further and Higher Education sector, was one of the pioneers in using the web for teaching and learning in education. Some ten years ago, she left teaching to concentrate on providing eLearning and consultancy services to both universities and businesses.

For the last twenty years, Vaughan Waller has run the Technologies for Business and Learning (TBL) eLearning consultancy and in addition, from 1999 to 2006, he was the elected chairman of the eLearning Network (eLN), the UK's foremost professional association for users and developers of eLearning. Through this, he is nationally and internationally known - and respected - for his invaluable work in promoting best practice within the industry.