Every good eLearning course has excellent content at its core, but the visual design is always what students notice first. The product itself and the packaging both have equal value. With a remarkable visual design, you can not only provide learners with a good first impression of the course. You can also pique their curiosity.
Therefore, contrary to what many eLearning designers may believe, this is not just a minor consideration; rather, it is crucial. Try to stay away from the following frequent visual design blunders as you first start thinking about how to improve the appearance of your course:
Image Distortion
I frequently encounter the classic visual design error of a distorted image, which is typically caused by carelessness while scaling an image. When an image is enlarged in such a way that the aspect ratio changes, the image becomes distorted (i.e., scaling the image too wide or too tall). As a result, the image appears stretched and distorted.
If you know what I’m referring to, you can see if a picture is warped even by one pixel at a distance.
On-screen Text
The temptation to fit as much information as you can on a single screen prevails. We want to provide the learner with everything at once. Take this, that, and that, as well as this! In these circumstances, designers frequently overlook the need for learners to understand the material without feeling overburdened.
The intention is to give them specific knowledge that will aid in their learning or skill development. Extraneous data and unrelated facts merely distract them and confuse their minds. If they become disinterested, they will quickly scan the module to get to the end. Less is always more, as designers must learn! To have an impact, e-learning designs should be straightforward and consistent. We must break up the information.
Lack Of Responsive Design
The mobile workforce enjoys learning while on the road with various mobile devices. They might not be very motivated if a training program requires them to be in front of a desktop or laptop. E-learning should be designed to be seen on a variety of mobile devices.
Furthermore, the course cannot just “function” on mobile devices. On-the-go learners will not enjoy having to constantly scroll or zoom in on stuff on their phones. Create training materials with responsive design so that learners can access them effortlessly on all devices.
Too Many Bullet Points
We all appear to know the rule of not employing too many bullet points, but we frequently break it. A lot of bullet points in an eLearning course indicate that the developer didn’t spend enough time crafting the information and thinking through how to convey it visually.
Simply deleting them or turning them into a relevant graphic are two methods for avoiding writing too many bullet points. When you take enough time to think about it, you can typically find an icon, graphic, or image to reflect the message in each of your bullets.
Poor Color Selections
Numerous scientific studies have demonstrated the significant influence that colors have not just on our brains but also on our moods, emotions, and feelings. The way your learners view your course can be significantly impacted by color. So, be cautious while choosing a color palette. When there are too many colors used or the wrong hues combined, it is difficult to read the material on the screen and the learner’s focus is diverted.
If you wish to make your course appear more polished and engaging, you must learn and adhere to color theory. There are tools like Thinkific that offer different default color schemes in case you want to use them to save time, effort, and money. It is also an economical option if you are looking to cut costs. You can check out Thinkific’s pricing to get an idea of how much you will be paying and what benefits you will reap.
Conclusion
In terms of the visual design of eLearning courses, the five aforementioned mistakes are the most frequent. Try to challenge yourself to improve your visual design while keeping in mind those errors to avoid them.