There is a growing body of research that suggests that improving the quality of online formative assessment strategies increases students' motivation to participate in online assessment. However, the way in which course leaders at open distance learning universities communicate the expectations of learning to students through online formative assessment strategies largely determines how students approach online formative assessment tasks. The design of online formative assessment strategies is an important element that is needed to promote an interactive level of engagement needed for motivating students learning online. It is against this background that this paper investigated the experiences of students with demotivating online formative assessment strategies at an open distance learning institution. The study achieved this through phenomenography, a developmental, qualitative and non-dualistic case study research. Twelve purposively selected students from a postgraduate course were interviewed to understand their experiences with demotivating online formative assessment strategies. Students identified seven demotivating online formative assessment strategies that provided insight to course leaders in the production of more motivating assessment strategies. The study achieved this through phenomenography, a developmental, qualitative and non-dualistic research approach that used a case study, to interview twelve purposively selected students from a postgraduate course to understand their experiences with demotivating online formative assessment strategies. From the students' own perspective, seven online formative assessment strategies that demotivated them to learn were identified to provide insight to course leaders to produce motivating assessment strategies.