Be Provocative: "The secret is to be more provocative and interesting than anything else in their environment."
I'm of mixed mind on the whole "who's job is it to make sure the experience is engaging" in the learning experience. I appreciate the work and ideas of Kathy Sierra - her enthusiasm reflects in her writing. As an instructor, I provide only part of the motivation for learners - I am not an entertainer. While the onus is on me to be aware of how people learn (and how the human brain works), entertainment and education are different experiences, arising from different needs (and intentions). Despite all of the game-based hype...and talk of edutainmnet, I think we sometimes mistake that attributes don't apply cleanly across different domains. A video game designer has different priorities (and objectives) than an instructional designer. Needs and intentions, not only an understanding of the mechanics of a situation, influence implementation. For example, we may know how combustion works for creating power in moving a car forward (the mechanics of the situation). Someone designing a sports car will put this knowledge to different use than someone designing a mini-van. The objectives influence how mechanics of a concept are implemented. A marketing director will use knowledge of the human brain differently than an instructor in a classroom.