In this episode, I chat with Dr Heidi Kirby and Helen Routledge about their sessions at IDTX Online 2026.

Heidi shares FUSE, her framework for useful learning evaluation, built to scale from small assets to big programmes, and designed to slot into whatever design process you already use.

Helen explores the conditions for real world capability, grounded in psychology and behavioural science, and how to design learning that helps people practise, own decisions, and apply skills when it matters.

IDTX Online is free to attend, and sessions will be available as recordings afterwards. If you have not already, head over to the IDTX website to book your ticket. If you would like to join us in person in May for the Evidence Informed Practice Conference, tickets are available but strictly limited.

Creators & Guests

• FUSE: A framework for useful learning evaluation (Dr Heidi Kirby)
  Day 1, 18 February, 6:00pm UK time (closing keynote)
• What makes skills stick: The conditions for real world capability (Helen Routledge)
  Day 2, 19 February, 11:00am UK time

What we talk about

• Why many evaluation frameworks struggle to reflect today’s workplace reality, including scale, modern working patterns, and the pressure to demonstrate organisational impact
• What Heidi wanted to fix with FUSE, including avoiding implied hierarchy, and making evaluation workable for both small and large learning work
• The common blockers to demonstrating impact, including the myth that L&D has to be the sole cause of results, and the temptation to look for one measurement approach that fits everything
• The conditions that help skills transfer into real work, and why practice, ownership, and safe failure matter
• How lessons from psychology and the games world can translate into practical design choices, even if you are not building simulations or VR

One thing to try after listening

1. For your next project, plan how you will measure beyond completions and “did they like it”, and aim to triangulate evidence rather than hunting for a single perfect metric
2. Look for one way to create a safer practice moment, where people make choices and learn from the consequences, instead of only being told what to do

Tickets, recordings, and what’s next

IDTX Online (18 and 19 February) is free to attend, and sessions will also be available as recordings afterwards. Book your ticket on the IDTX website.

If you would like to join us in person on 29 May in Birmingham for the Evidence Informed Practice Conference, tickets are £100 and limited to 100 attendees, so now is the time to book. You can also find details on the Virtual Summit on the IDTX site.

Sponsors and supporters

This week’s IDTX Online event is sponsored by L&D Free Spirits and supported by The CPD Group and Learning News.

• (00:00) - Intro