Preparation for Assignment 2 – Part II

In preparation for the assessment next week we had a look at a couple examples of e-Learning courses and evaluated their visual design components.

EXAMPLES

SMH, Financial Review, CNN, Cirque de Soleil, McDonalds

SMH - Screen layout mirrors that of a newspaper. It is organised into coloumns, with lots of print and perhaps one of its flaws is this overload of information (cognitive load – too much information for the learner to absorb). Navigation toolbar across the top.

Financial Review – As a subsidiary of SMH, same layout. More emphasis on the text though based on visual hierarchy concept of left to right

CNN - Different layout, less text and more images. The bold red line divides the navigational elements and the content.

Cirque de Soleil - More about the graphics. Use of yellow on black – strong contrasts. The use of graphics is more predominant. Bearing in mind the target audience of the site will determine the content.

McDonalds – multiaward winning site. Interactive. Highly visual. Use of 3D to emphasise visual hierarchy. The areas where they want more emphasis are larger and in the foreground. There are also shadowed elements that light up if the cursor is hovered over it. They’ve taken a complicated site and made it easy to use. Cognitive learning is taking place one thing at a time. Single elements on the page not a multitude of elements.

We also had a discussion about visual hierarchy and graphics.

Visual hierarchy – what attention is drawn to. The learner gets drawn to the image first. Other things that affect visual hierarchy:

• text: font, size and face
• motion: moving images
• colour: contrast/complementry – The use of contrast can both help and deter.
• more emphasis placed on information that is presented first from left to right, top to bottom

Style of graphics – is the choice appropriate? Does the image comply with the text. What is the purpose? Is it aiding the comprehension of the learner or is it distracting? Idea of type of graphic. Static pictures or motion? Should the graphic be interactive? Videos – are they better? – perhaps not because videos are quite linear. They are not interactive. Depending on the purpose is what it will depend on.