Editor’s observe: This story on digital studying initially appeared on CoSN’s weblog and is reposted right here with permission.
Key factors:
Lecturers, principals, and district directors are creating digital content material day by day for quite a lot of audiences. From classroom classes {and professional} studying assets, to workers guides and announcement graphics, increasingly data is being delivered in a visible means. Analysis exhibits that we course of data introduced in visible type extra shortly than that introduced in writing. Nevertheless, if digital content material is created with out consideration of accessibility, visible processing, and fundamental design ideas, the message we try to speak can get misplaced, or worse, misinterpreted.
Small modifications within the design course of when creating digital content material could make a big impact on how audiences entry and course of, and finally be taught, data. Listed below are three issues to think about when designing digital studying experiences for college students and why:
Contemplate cognitive load
Cognitive load refers back to the quantity of working reminiscence being utilized by the mind, just like the RAM in your laptop. When a pc has a number of applications working and is processing a whole lot of data, it begins to decelerate as a result of the reminiscence utilization is excessive. The identical factor occurs to the mind when studying. When the mind turns into overloaded with data — a excessive cognitive load — studying slows down and turns into much less environment friendly, as a result of much less data makes it to the everlasting reminiscence.
What does this imply for us as designers?
Keep away from data overload. Define all the data you’re offering, and take into account breaking massive concepts down into smaller components. Current these smaller components in an order that’s straightforward to comply with, with time to course of the data. This methodology of “chunking and sequencing” content material makes data simpler to course of.
Visible hierarchy
In a world filled with visible content material, understanding tips on how to management what our viewers sees first is essential. We’ve all seen slides with traces and features of textual content, or digital flyers overloaded with photos, colours, and fonts. In these moments, our brains are not sure the place to look, and our means to grasp and course of the data slows down. Visible hierarchy is the artwork of arranging parts in a design — a slide, poster, webpage, and so forth. — to information the viewers’s consideration and convey data effectively.
What does this imply for us as designers?
Creating visible hierarchy begins with figuring out what’s most necessary, the data you need your viewers to grasp and keep in mind. This is perhaps a picture, a phrase or phrase, a date or time, and so forth. This major component is positioned first, in order that it stays the focus. Bigger parts draw extra consideration, so prioritize the necessary content material by making it the biggest component within the design. Extra parts like titles, small traces of textual content, or photos and icons must be added so as of their place within the visible hierarchy, being conscious of holding the give attention to the principle component.
Much less is extra. The less parts in a design, the simpler it’s to course of the data. As an alternative of 1 slide with 5 traces of textual content, attempt breaking that into a number of slides with bigger textual content. A number of photos might be distracting. Attempt selecting one highly effective picture with fastidiously aligned textual content of various sizes or colours.
Design with accessibility in thoughts
When creating digital content material, a big period of time is commonly spent painstakingly selecting the proper fonts and colours. In actuality, visible design greatest practices say that fonts and colours must be stored easy and at a minimal to maintain designs accessible and reduce cognitive load.
Utilizing loud, ornamental fonts or mixing too many fonts collectively might be extremely distracting, and break down visible hierarchy within the design. Script and handwriting fonts have gained reputation not too long ago, however might be troublesome to learn and must be averted when creating designs for big audiences.
Just like fonts, colour can be utilized to create visible curiosity and draw consideration. Utilizing a number of high-contrast colours that work effectively collectively helps visible hierarchy whereas making the content material accessible for these with visible impairments or colour blindness.
What does this imply for us as designers?
Maintain it easy. Select straightforward to learn fonts as the muse of the design. Lexend was created with this in thoughts — to lower visible stress and improve processing effectivity. Ornamental fonts can all the time be added for visible curiosity and to attract consideration.
Use on-line instruments. Turbines from Adobe and Canva make it straightforward to construct colour palettes, and the inbuilt accessibility instruments guarantee colour choices are excessive distinction.
Be constant. Whether or not it’s a slidedeck, web site, or sequence of social media graphics, be constant in your designs. Consistency in structure, fonts, and colours helps audiences anticipate the content material and course of it extra shortly.
References
de Jong, T. (2010). Cognitive load idea, instructional analysis, and tutorial design: Some meals for thought. Tutorial Science, 38(2), 105–134.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11251-009-9110-0
https://digitalpromise.org/initiative/learner-variability-project/
https://www.lexend.com/
https://colour.adobe.com/create/color-wheel
https://colour.adobe.com/create/color-contrast-analyzer
