The Rapid eLearning Blog
The Rapid eLearning BlogI was working with a student intern the other day. We reviewed his first attempt at a rapid elearning course. For this review, we focused on the course’s visual design.
Overall, he did a great job, especially for someone just starting out. However, he made some mistakes that are common to many of the courses I see. I thought I’d do a quick rundown of what they are and provide some tips on how to prevent them.
1. Not Considering the Impact of the Visual Design
Good elearning design is as much about visual communication as it instructional design and learning theory.
When I learned video production years ago, we were always told that everything in the frame means something. It’s the same with the computer screen. You’re building the screen and adding content. Everything you add conveys a message, whether it’s your intention or not.
Look at a company like Apple. They build good products. But they also tell a compelling story. There is a consistent message between the products they sell and the way they pack it visually. It all adds to the Apple experience.
In the same sense, your course is a story. The content design and structure is part of it. But are you committed to a visual design that reinforces the key message and emotions?
It’s not about just making the screen look good. Visual design sets the tone for the course and that shouldn’t happen by accident. Everything on that screen communicates something. It’s your job to make sure that it’s communicating what you want it to.
Click here to view Font Conference video.
There really is a lot more to say about visual design and elearning. I’ll be doing some additional posts where I break down some of these ideas here and also explore some other ideas that I didn’t mention today.
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