Episode 12 - The Curse of Conditional Learning

Episode 12 - The Curse of Conditional Learning

The chapter where a simple task becomes a six-module prequel trilogy nobody asked for. In this episode, we crack open Chapter 10: The Curse of Conditional Learning — the moment your “quick refresher” turns into a full-blown academic saga with prerequisites that have prerequisites. This is the symptom where we, as learning designers, panic that learners “won’t understand Topic A without Topics B–Z”… and suddenly Jimmy can’t submit a risk assessment without completing a 45-minute history lesson on papyrus. We talk about: * How a simple update for Jimmy became a branching “lore expansion pack” worthy of Marvel * The internal spiral of “But what if they don’t know this? Or this? OR THIS?” * My own disaster: an eight-module prerequisite chain… for expenses * Why your LMS course structure sometimes looks like a family tree with trust issues * How front-loading context kills motivation (and the will to live) This chapter exposes the habit of assuming learners know nothing and must earn the right to see the real content — turning your course into an educational obstacle course.

Episode 11- The Completion Conspiracy

Your LMS has become Alcatraz and your learners are doing hard time for clicking too fast. In this episode we read along with Chapter 9 and unpack how “tracking everything” + “forcing everything” turns a course into a digital prison. Timers. Locked slides. Pop-ups that scream “NO SKIPPING.” It’s the perfect storm of EBD. Steve also shares his own epic failure where he built a course so controlled it basically needed a parole board. If your progress bar is running the show, this one will hurt… and fix you. One Big Thing: If your course feels like surveillance, no one’s learning. Two Small Things: Stop forcing, start trusting. And remove one barrier today.

Episode 10 - The Anti Simplicity Bias.

“Complexity: now available in six confusing formats none of which you asked for.”   Ever built something simple… then sabotaged it because it looked too easy? Welcome to The Anti-Simplicity Bias — the sneaky EBD strain that convinces learning designers that “simple” means “lazy.”   In this episode, Steve Corney cracks open Chapter 8 of The Enough Bucket and confesses how he’s turned clean, functional courses into corporate drag shows of logic layers, jargon soup, and fake sophistication.   We talk about: * Why “too basic” is a compliment, not an insult. * How our fear of being seen as lazy fuels over-complexity. * The difference between smart simple and simple-minded. * How to earn simplicity instead of apologising for it.   Because learners don’t need your seven-step framework. They need clarity. And simplicity isn’t a shortcut — it’s a skill.   🎧 Listen, laugh, and spot your own Anti-Simplicity moments. Then join the post-episode chat on LinkedIn using #EBD and tell us your favourite “I made it more complicated than it needed to be” story.

Episode 9- Pathway Paradox

In this episode of The EBD Show, Steve reads Chapter 7: The Pathway Paradox from The Enough Bucket. The Pathway Paradox is what happens when our obsession with personalisation and “choose-your-own-adventure” learning runs wild. We spend months building multiple pathways, alternate routes, and branching logic — only to discover that most learners click whatever’s fastest to get to the end. This chapter digs into the irony of over-designing choice: when our good intentions to empower learners actually create confusion, fatigue, and decision paralysis. Steve breaks down how Enough Bucket Dysmorphia fuels the need to build for every learner, every style, every situation — and why that ends up helping no one. Expect humour, honesty, and a few gut-punch reminders about when more choice becomes less learning. Join the conversation after the show on LinkedIn using #EBD — and share how you’ve battled the Pathway Paradox in your own designs.

Episode 8 - Interactivity Fever

In this episode of The EBD Show, Steve reads Chapter 6: Interactivity Fever from The Enough Bucket. Interactivity Fever is that contagious condition where learning designers can’t resist adding more buttons, sliders, click-and-reveals, and drag-and-drops — not because the learner needs them, but because the designer can. It’s the moment where creative ambition quietly replaces purpose, and suddenly your simple learning experience starts looking like a Vegas slot machine. This chapter calls out how EBD feeds the obsession with interactivity for interactivity’s sake. Steve explores why we confuse movement with engagement, why our love for features outweighs our love for focus, and how to cure the fever before your module turns into an arcade. If you’ve ever found yourself saying, “But it needs to be interactive,” this one’s for you. Join the conversation after the show on LinkedIn using #EBD — and confess your own symptoms of Interactivity Fever.