ABOUT ME
Curious how to say my name? 💬 Peiyu (佩玉) — “Pay-yoo”
Peiyu, the Learning Architect
I like to think of learning design as a form of architecture. You wouldn't start building by choosing the furniture. You would first think about who will use the space, what they need from it, and what foundations need to be in place. Learning deserves the same care.
That's how I approach design. I start by understanding learners and the problem to be solved, gathering evidence about what might be getting in the way, and choosing the right tools and approaches for the job. From there, I shape a learning journey that introduces ideas at the right time, provides scaffolds when learners need support, and gradually gives them greater independence as their understanding and confidence grow.
My path to learning design was built gradually too. I spent three years studying how people learn from a psychological perspective, followed by four years researching how technology can support learning while teaching diverse groups of adult learners during my PhD. Along the way, I realised that what excites me most isn't research for its own sake, but what I can create from it: using evidence to understand real learning problems and turning what we know about learning into experiences people can practise with and apply.
That's what brought me to learning design — a place where I can bring together what I know about people, learning and technology to create experiences designed around the people who will use them.
Peiyu, the Bookworm
Give me a quiet, rainy afternoon, and there's a good chance you'll find me curled up at home with a book and a cup of coffee, or wandering between the shelves of Waterstones, only to realise I've completely lost track of time.
I've been reading since I was three, although what I reach for has changed quite a bit over the years. The comic books I loved as a little girl gradually made room for classic novels, detective stories, history and almost anything else that catches my curiosity. I've never been particularly loyal to one genre. For me, that's part of the joy of reading: every book is an invitation into a world I don't yet know.
Sometimes that means seeing life through another person's eyes. Sometimes it's discovering an unfamiliar period of history, following a mystery to its final clue, or encountering an idea that makes me question something I thought I understood. What keeps me turning the pages is the same thing that keeps me learning — curiosity about people, ideas and perspectives beyond my own.
That curiosity finds its way into my work too. Learning design asks us to step outside our own assumptions and consider how an experience might look and feel to someone else. Reading has been teaching me to do that for as long as I can remember: to stay curious, look from another perspective, and never assume there's only one way to see the story.
Peiyu, the Explorer
Exploring has always been part of my life. Sometimes it means discovering a new place, and sometimes it means finding myself drawn into a completely new field of learning.
Seven years ago, I moved from China to the UK. Since then, curiosity has taken me to travel to more than ten countries, through Asia, Africa, North America and Europe. What stays with me most isn't simply the places I've visited, but the differences I notice along the way, how people in different cultures communicate, and experience everyday life in ways I might never have considered before. Living between cultures has taught me to be open-minded rather than assume, to adapt when the familiar no longer applies, and to remember that something that feels obvious to one person may look completely different to another.
I've followed much the same path in my education. I began with English, ventured into psychology, moved into TESOL, and eventually found my way to Learning Sciences. Each field opened another door and gave me a different way of understanding people and how they learn. Together, they've shaped the way I see learning design today.
I don't think that exploration will ever be finished. Whether I'm discovering a new place, stepping into a new field or figuring out a new design tool, I'm happiest when there's still something I don't quite understand yet, because that means there's something new to discover. Maybe that's why learning design feels like such a natural place for me to be. I get to keep exploring how people learn, while turning what I discover into better ways for them to learn.