Well-designed eLearning must have strong visual design andgraphic elements; there’s no way around that truth.
“The thing is, eLearning is a completely visual medium, andpretty much everyone knows by now—even if they don’t necessarily follow it—thatyou’re not supposed to have a screen full of text,” said Connie Malamed, a learningand visual design consultant and author.
The good news is, anyone can learn some basic visual design principlesthat will take their eLearning to a new level, regardless of delivery platform.“One thing that people don’t realize is that you do not need the ability torender or draw to improve your skills in visual design,” Malamed said. “Visualdesign and drawing are two separate categories of skills. There are some basicprinciples of visual design, and many overlap with art principles—but you donot need to be an artist to follow the principles.
“There are standard principles—and that’s what I teach in myworkshops—for visual design that people can follow, and there’s no reason whythey can’t improve their skills; I don’t care if they can’t draw a stickfigure!”
For example:
- Colorharmonies—there are standard color harmonies for creating palettes that instructionaldesigners can use in creating eLearning courses and slides
- Unifieddesign—repeating a shape, using a single typeface, and working with onlyone palette of colors are all ways to create unity throughout an eLearningcourse or program
- Visualhierarchy—using color, size, or placement to create a dominant element thatdraws viewers’ eyes controls the order in which learners will see the elementson a page
“Mobile learning isn’tsmall eLearning”
“Not all eLearning can be converted to a phone,” Malamedsaid. Designers who are eager to embrace the mobile culture sometimes ignorethis truth. “I think that eLearning for the computer and iPad is going to bequite different than eLearning for a mobile device. I would say mobile learningisn’t small eLearning.”
Malamed said that designers basically have two options:
- Mobile-first—designeLearning specifically for the phone. In this case, she recommends using vectorgraphics, so that the graphics will scale up nicely for learners who usetablets or laptops.
- Not formobile—“If you want your eLearning to be graphic-heavy, and if theresponsive version causes cognitive overload, just let people know that it’snot appropriate for a phone,” she said.
“Many complex information graphicsare not going to work on a standard mobile phone,” she said. “You have toreally think the design through.”
People consume content differentlyon different devices, and they might not want the same eLearning experience everywhere.“You have to really think it through instructionally— because context is mostimportant in mobile learning. And consider if what you’re designing for a phoneis going to be appropriate for a desktop. It’s a little tricky,” Malamed said.“It’s a different experience, learning from your phone. And I think thatmicrolearning, games, and context-sensitive learning are more appropriate for thephone.”
Aligning graphics with goals
Whatever the medium, effective graphics are a key element ofeffective eLearning.
“What makes a graphic effective for learning is verydifferent from what might make a graphic effective for advertising. So, we haveto think of our goal. Even though we might use the same principles, we mightuse them in a different way,” Malamed said. “What makes a graphic effective forlearning is that it is a relevant graphic and that it adds meaning to what theperson is learning.”
In addition, the graphic needs to be aligned with thelearning goal:
- For learning goals that focus on recall ofinformation, Malamed suggests an icon or photo that can serve as a mnemonicaid, something to jog their memory. “People have an amazing memory forpictures,” she said, suggesting showing the image together with the text. “Byhaving two channels—a visual channel and a text channel—you might be morelikely to remember it.”
- For learning goals that emphasize analysis orsynthesis of content, the instructional designer might turn to a complexinfographic.
- When coaching learners in problem-solving, orasking them to apply responses from a simulation to potential real-lifesituations, Malamed suggests a story with characters. “Show the characters interacting,using video or still photos,” she suggests. Learners are likely to remember thescenario and what the character did; this might help them remember how to solvethe problem.
No artistic skill? No problem!
While graphics are necessary, an in-house art department isnot. “The majority of eLearning that I see people produce does not includehand-rendered or computer-rendered illustrations,” Malamed said.
Instead of creating graphics in-house, most eLearningdesigners turn to stock photos and vector graphics or to companies that createimages specifically for eLearning—cutouts of people, for example, that can bedropped into a page of content. Alternatively, designers can create their ownphotos—for example, of an employee wearing the company uniform. Vector graphicsare scalable and can be used for illustrations, icons, or to represent conceptsor ideas, Malamed said.
It’s worth the investment. “When people find somethingaesthetically appealing, it motivates them to keep going; it makes them thinkit’s professional; and it improves the credibility” of the eLearning, accordingto Malamed.
