visual design encourages positivity for better learning

8/17/2019 Visual Design Encourages Positivity for Better Learning

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10/05/2016 The role of visual design in e-learning - Learning Seat

http://www.learningseat.com.au/blog/2014/07/30/role-visual-design-elearning/ 1/4

VISUAL DESIGN ENCOURAGES

POSITIVITY FOR BETTER LEARNING

Believe it or not, research shows that pu䋜ng people in a posi뛕ve mood will make them more crea뛕ve,

more flexible in their thinking, more thorough, and beer learners (Peters, D 2014). For instance,star뛕ng a presenta뛕on with humour helps focus the audience’s aen뛕on for what’s to follow.

Likewise, in e‐learning, the use of anecdotes or digital storytelling techniques, such as the comic‐style

approach used in The SAFE Files, is also a fun and effec뛕ve way to op뛕mise learner engagement.

The S.A.F.E. Files uses narra뛕ve devices including backstories to create interest and ac뛕vate op뛕mal neural pathways for learning.

VISUAL DESIGN MANAGES DETAILS

We know that too much text on screen can be difficult to read and distract learners from effec뛕ve

informa뛕on reten뛕on. But what do you do if a large amount of text is cri뛕cal to mee뛕ng your learning

objec뛕ves and there is absolutely no way to cut it down any further?

This is where visual design or, more specifically, interac뛕ve graphics can be used to reduce cogni뛕veoverload by breaking down the percep뛕on of text heavy content into smaller, more diges뛕ble

informa뛕on bites. For instance, by using ‘hotspots’ (small pop‐up style interac뛕ons) organised within a

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visual se䋜ng or menu, learners can access quan뛕뛕es of informa뛕on in such a way that without being

off put by big slabs of text.

This Camp Quality induc뛕on effec뛕vely chunks and organises important informa뛕on within a virtual

‘camp’ using hotspots.

VISUAL DESIGN HIGHLIGHTS IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Good visual hierarchies point learners to cri뛕cal informa뛕on by arranging content in such a way that

allows them to quickly skim through and absorb informa뛕on in an efficient manner. This can be

achieved by using typography, colour, size, alignment and images/graphics. Elements of the highest

rank in the visual hierarchy are most no뛕ceable. Hence, headings or sub‐headings are usually

represented with a larger font, different colour or in bold.


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Learning Seat’s Whistleblowers course illustrates the effec뛕veness of typographical hierarchies while

the use of pull quotes further highlights cri뛕cal informa뛕on.

VISUAL DESIGN IMPROVES USABILITY

Good visual design makes interfaces intui뛕ve and easy to use so learners can focus on content rather

than worrying about how to navigate through the course. For instance, this can be achieved by using

consistent naviga뛕on throughout a course such as ensuring that the back and next buons are strictly

the same (in terms of size, colour, posi뛕on etc.) on every screen.

Anima뛕ons on buons can also be used to draw the learner’s aen뛕on to what it is they need to do.

Contrast can also be given to selectable buons to create a dis뛕nc뛕on from other graphics, making it

more apparent to learners where they are required to interact with the course.


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TAC’s, The Safe System, uses graphic buons with comple뛕on 뛕cks to clearly signpost to learners both

what they’ve done and what they need to do in a visually appealing way.

Reference: Peters, D 2014, Interface design for learning: Design strategies for learning experiences(Voices that maers), New Riders Publishing, USA.

visual design encourages positivity for better learning

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