Improving the Learning Environment

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Design Tips: Designing to Create Flow

Designing for Usability > Using Design to Create Flow

The layout below does not flow. When instruction flows, the learner finds things easily. Here the title is in the middle of the page and the text that describes the image is at the bottom of the page.The spatial contiguity principle is concerned about the relationship between a screen image and on-screen text which share the same message. If they are apart the learner has to use additional cognitive resources to understand the whole message. Learn more in this article, A Learner-Centered Approach to Multimedia Explanations: Deriving Instructional Design Principles from Cognitive Theory, by Roxana Moreno, University of New Mexico and Richard E. Mayer, University of California Santa Barbara.

A few tips for students with learning differences:An off white background is recommended to avoid glare.12 point type is the minimum recommended font size for users with dyslexia. The textbox width should be about 70 to 80 characters wide. •Do not justify all lines so the edges are even. Design Concepts, Principles and Elements Contrast Movement Unity Color Symmetry Proximity Alignment Typography Repetition Proportion Shapes Texture Focal Point Rhythm Direction Line Some tips on using fonts: Using all Caps in a layout makes it hard to read. The uniformity in the height forces the eye to work harder to decode the word. Do this for emphasis occasionally. Fonts with a higher x-height are harder to read. Use Italics sparingly—they are harder to read. Leading is the space between lines of type...use it to group