The great blind spot: Why we’re failing to entertain adult learners

At the heart of the problem is a flawed assumption: that adult learners are a captive audience. They’ll do the compliance module, click through the safety course, or complete the simulation because their job/employability depends on it. This ‘coerced user’ logic is the get-out-of-jail-free card for mediocre engagement.

But think about it commercially. A TV show, a mobile game, or a bestselling book lives or dies by its ability to engage. If it’s not compelling, people stop watching, playing, or reading. The stakes for the creator are absolute. In learning, however, engagement is too often seen as a ‘nice-to-have’, not the core requirement for success. This fundamentally changes the creative ambition from the start.

What this looks like in practice:

Safe and patronising content: The material often feels sanitised, avoiding anything too funny, spiky, controversial, disruptive, thrilling, or emotionally resonant that might be deemed ‘unprofessional’ or risky. But how many adults would choose to only watch U/PG-rated content in their free time?

The B2B/B2C disconnect: The industry (often!) sells to businesses/organisations (B2B) but the end-user is the individual learner (B2C). The client paying the bill is often distant from the learner’s experience, leading to content designed to please a procurement manager’s checklist, not to captivate a human being.

The missing learner voice: How often are learners themselves asked in focus groups or surveys, “What would actually make this enjoyable for you?” Their voice is the neglected part of the equation.

Even when projects start with the best intentions to be engaging, a process of ‘design erosion’ often takes hold. The exciting narrative gets watered down, the compelling game mechanic is simplified for cost, and the bold creative idea is smoothed into something more familiar – and less memorable.

This happens because the entertainment muscle in the learning sector is atrophied. We have skilled learning designers, graphic artists, and developers. But where are the dedicated narrative designers, the comedy writers, the game storytellers employed by studios to craft ‘hooks’, ‘jeopardy points’, and ‘mini-cliffhangers’ that drive you to the next episode or level?

The warning signs of erosion are clear:

Narrative as a vehicle, not an engine: Stories are used as a thin wrapper for information dumps, rather than using plot, character, and tension to drive progression and discovery along the learning journey.

Great tech, empty world: We have access to amazing graphics, animation tools, and game platforms, but they’re populated with experiences that are technically good but emotionally flat and unconvincing.

Fear of the client: Suppliers often don’t pitch truly entertaining ideas because they don’t believe their B2B clients will accept or pay for them. This creates a cycle of low expectations.

Take simple preventative steps:

• Budgets: Scope costs accurately (avoid wishful thinking!), track spend as you go, and police ‘scope creep’ ruthlessly.
• Interest: Do real market research, start small to prove your concept, and always be able to answer the learner’s question: “What’s in it for me?”
• Partners: Have direct conversations early. Codify how you’ll work in an agreement. Sort out who owns what (IP) from the start.
• Key people: Name a specific substitute for each crucial role. Keep them in the loop via work shadowing. Keep project records up-to-date.
• Quality: Get the right skills on the team. Build in time for proper user testing.
• Delays: Create an honest project plan by talking to the people who’ll do the work. Have regular, honest communication to keep things moving.
• Stay awake: Revisit your budget, check in with partners, and update your plans. Small, consistent checks stop small problems from becoming big ones.

What’s the best approach?

A practical, watchful mindset. Don’t assume “it won’t happen to us”. Let these six common areas guide where you put your attention and what simple safeguards you set up.

So, what can we do differently? It starts by recognising that ‘entertainment’ is a set of disciplines and techniques that can be learned and applied. It’s about intentional design, not magic.

Practical opportunities to raise the bar:

Commission for the learner, not just the client: Adopt a ‘design for B2C, even though sold B2B’ principle. Build learner enjoyment and voluntary engagement into the core success metrics from the start.

Hire different skills: Actively seek out scriptwriters, storyboard artists, and game designers from entertainment fields. Blend them with your learning designers to create a new kind of hybrid expertise.

Study the masters of engagement: Analyse the mechanics of a hit mobile game like Candy Crush – its use of incremental challenge, reward cycles, and visual polish. Deconstruct a gripping podcast’s use of narrative structure. These are blueprints for sustained attention.

Embrace emotional range: Why can’t a case study be genuinely shocking? Why can’t a safety simulation be thrilling? Why can’t a communication skills scenario be so funny it makes you snort coffee out of your nose? Trust adults to handle complex emotions; it’s how they learn in real life.

Start small and show, don’t tell: Prove the value with a pilot. A short, well-crafted infographic, an animation with a great twist, or a game-like scenario that’s genuinely fun can be a more powerful argument than any report.

Adopting this mindset isn’t appropriate for every single piece of learning. But for a vast swathe of vocational skills and knowledge where engagement is low, it represents a huge untapped opportunity. It’s about respecting adults enough not to bore them, and being ambitious enough to try and delight them.

The goal is to stop making learning something people endure, and start making it something they might even choose.

Ufi case study: Readable* (from Playlingo)

Readable is fun. And that’s really important when you’re working with adults who have not had a great experience with language learning.

This project tested the power of entertainment in vocational language learning. It’s an app that teaches workplace English through short, addictive ‘chat stories’ written specifically to entertain. Targeting sectors like retail and construction, Readable combined gripping narratives with language support, built on the research that reading for pleasure is a powerful driver of proficiency. It’s a prime example of designing for learner amusement first, proving that engagement and effective learning are two sides of the same coin.

*Only Ufi project to date to feature a zombie apocalypse, a gay love story, murderous babysitters and Donald Trump in a desperate dash for the bathroom (but not all in the same story).