Using Effective Design for Media: Make or Break your Content

presented by Mark Christman, an e-learning specialist from Regence BCBS. He is educated in film production, but has gotten into e-learning.

First thing he shows is a video from youtube....



MC considers this as an example of some really good e-learning. Comments so far include how little resources mixed with some high creativity can produce real impactful results.

Just briefly, MC has given some attention to the handouts, rather than giving just powerpoint slides, he has given some tools to use.......nice.

Starting off, MC asks, why is this important? We all know that e-learning without decent media design is .....well.....horrible. MC illustrates this by discussing how the content competes for the brains attention (working and long term memory along with visual and auditory input). He says you want to keep in mind the aesthetic usability effect, depth of processing and immersion. He also recommend the book Universal Principles of Design as a good guide.

Some other good books include the test we have for Ruth Clark from

Design Points:
vertical lines give the illusion of a solid effect, stability - same with horizontal.
diagonal lines seem to give off tension
s-Curve - very graceful, implies movement
Orientation sensitivity - think about how things are placed on the screen.
Foreground/Background - what shapes are you using? Use basic elements and a less is more approach rather than cluttering up the screen with too much stuff.
Use iconic representation that people are familiar with.

Interfearance effects-
Stroop
Garner
Proactive
Retroactive

Color and shape - for example red=stop, green=go - does a black circle mean continue, or a black button pointing right mean go back?

Tip!! - Free icons - smashingmagazine.com Just search for icons using the web utility - they are very tasteful and visually pleasing.

Are you using a grid to design - if you're not - reconsider - it will allow you to follow the rule of thirds better, balance your objects on the screen, be consistent and have simplicity. Also, the Golden Ratio - which is found in nature, our bone structure, and ancient Greeks used it to build architecture. Also mentioned
Ockham's razor.

Consistency - systems are more usable and learnable when similar part are expressed in similar ways - this really drives home the point of having design standards that are used universally within your company. Heck, even considering them in the first place is a huge step.

Practical applications - do you want to show the whole screen in a simulation or demonstration (especially with software) or just part of it.......also consider the rule of two thirds - that is where the focal pt should be.

Eye tracking - take a look here:




Using the handouts, MC has a project to learn about using a grid: I will try to post a video of this later.....

Moving on to color: - Do you use a color wheel when you design? MC recommends 5 or less colors overall.

Variation of color - what does tint and shade do? You can add these to your 5 colors to add variety. Warm/Cool colors - consider what the person is wearing when you take illustrative photos, what color are they wearing compared to the environment? There are several sites that can help with this, like well styled (must post link).

Sadly, I have to leave this wonderful presentation - there are more Captivate presentations happening right now!