Welcome to the eLearn Podcast. My name is Ladek and I’m your Host from Open LMS.
My guest for today is Connie Malamed, curator of theelearningcoach.com, which she founded way back in 2009. She has been in the visual, instructional and learning design field for more than 20 years and has, literally, seen it all.
In this insightful conversation, Connie and I discuss:
- Why visual design is so important in learning today, given the fact that so much data is transmitted visually in online learning
- Why the two most important things to consider as a visual designer are your audience (as in who are they, really) and context (as in where are they, what are they learning, etc.)
- Why it is important to consider how humans cognitively process graphics and visual parts of learning. Your eyes are always moving, so we need to think about how to build a visual hierarchy that accounts for perception, processing and remembering.
- When and how we give something “meaning.” – is it working memory, long term memory, and how we don’t really know how this works exactly.
- Why learning designers are not the same as graphic designers and how to avoid the biggest mistakes of design: clutter, forgetting visual hierarchy, and simply having “too much” (fonts, colors, etc.)… And… the reason why you should never use a white background for a presentation in a large room.