Have you ever experienced (or led) a learning session that was a total information overload? The audience’s eyes glazed over after 10 minutes and there was nothing but the sounds of crickets during the Q&A session? Yeah, we’ve been there too.
Our newest Instructional and Visual Designers are here to give their best tips and tricks for getting the right information to the right people in a way that sticks (and stops these horrific moments from happening).
How to make a clean, clear learning experience that keeps your audience engaged?
From an information perspective
Maria: Death by PowerPoint is real. Here’s a pro tip. Think of your course or module in cinematic terms. Bring storytelling, conflict, and a soundtrack into the mix. Basically, drum up the drama. Write a strong script and add voice over. Add video wherever possible and hide chunks of text into pop-ups. The possibilities are endless. Negotiate visual overload by tapping into other senses.
From a visual perspective
Lene: “Less is more” definitely applies here. You don’t want to overload the audience with information by having them read walls of text. Visual elements, like a simple animation or diagram, can sum up complicated concepts in an effortless way. This can help the audience understand you within seconds. Having the audience interact with the presentation also keeps them engaged and interested.
How to know you if you have the right amount of information?
Maria: I would say balance is key. Trust your intuition and place yourself in the seat of the learner. Whatever it is you’re feeling – the module is text heavy, there are too many bullet points, there’s not enough happening on screen – follow that gut reaction. Chances are learners will feel the same.
Lene: By asking the right questions! Which is a lot harder than it sounds. People have wildly different communication styles sometimes, which means that a question I thought was simple and straightforward, someone else might consider confusing or complicated. You have to be able to read people and restructure the way you ask for information if it feels like you’re getting nowhere.
What are some best practices for approaching Visual Design?
Lene: Having an open mind. Design is constantly evolving. You have to be able to keep up with the times, know your tools, and always be ready to learn more. Making mistakes is a part of the process, and a lot of the time you have to rule out bad design ideas to get to the good ones. Being inspired by other designers has always helped me get out of a design rut – taking note of how others do things can challenge old habits and elevate your own style.
What tools or practices can you use?
Maria: A mood board. I take screenshots of design ideas, interesting assessment frameworks, and gamification scenarios and place them into a digital notebook. It’s a great tool for collaborative work as well. You just say, “Hey, here are somethings I’ve been thinking about. What do you think?” So, you arrive at a brainstorming session with something ready in hand.
Lene: Every designer’s workflow is different, so it’s all about what works best for you. But it’s also important to try out new tools every once in a while, because you might not even realize what you’re missing out on! For example: I used to draw with a Wacom tablet that I hooked up to my computer for over 10 years, before switching over to using an iPad and Procreate. It truly changed the way I draw and opened up a world of new opportunities and drawing techniques for me.
Good design is for everyone
It’s the truth. Many digital learning agencies hire experts who are able to carry a project from start to finish—meaning one person is responsible for writing, visualizing, and producing the learning material.
That’s not our approach at Bitville. Our Instructional Designers collaborate with our Visual Designers so that our learnings stand out from the crowd. Sure, this requires more teamwork and communication, but the result is a more unique and high-quality learning experience that taps into learners visual and auditory needs in the best possible way.
Either way, we can all benefit from a few tips and tricks to sharpen our presentation skills.
A little more about our team
Maria has researched and practiced inclusive pedagogy in three countries and across grade levels. Her chapter, co-written with Dr. Enilda Romero-Hall, “La Clave: Culturally Relevant Pedagogy in Digital Praxis” is included in the collection Critical Digital Pedagogy in Higher Education: Broadening Horizons, Bridging Theory and Practice is due out this fall.
Lene graduated in 2018 from Arcada University of Applied sciences with a bachelor's degree in Online media. There she studied design, coding, game development, conceptual thinking and media analysis. Before joining Bitville full-time, she worked as a freelancer, with tasks ranging from building a brand from the ground up, to making advertisements and animations. In her spare time, Lene is an avid doodler, Netflix binger and hot chocolate connoisseur.
