This week I focus on how a basic understanding of the Gestalt principles can help create harmonious design and improve the odds that the intended message is conveyed to the learners we design for.

The Theory
The Gestalt theory suggests that when a person looks at an intricate combination of elements, the “whole” is perceived before its “individual” parts. Consequently, the “whole” also becomes more than the sum of its parts. To put it simply, the theory refers to how visual input is perceived by humans.

“’What is the use of a book’, thought Alice, ‘without pictures or  conversations?’”

Most of us agree that the use of images and graphics in e-learning help the learners make visual associations. However the images or graphics need to be relevant to the content being presented. They need to support the text and be used, not for diversion, but a clear instructional purpose.

Some days ago, I wrote about some basic design principles pertinent to the presentation of information. Taking that forward, this post specifically addresses the issue of ‘Usability’.

Over the last few weeks, I have been learning about the fundamental concepts and basic principles of designing electronic instructional media. These concepts are essential knowledge which constitutes a firm foundation, before one can be effective in an Instructional Designer’s role that involves media design.

Yes, I’ve not been blogging as regularly as I might have liked to. I’ve been busy with projects – bread and butter.

We’ve always focused on instructional design being essential to the design of courseware. That’s certainly true, it’s the first step to make a learning solution instructionally sound. The next in line is to make it interesting, engaging, interactive. Too many solutions fail at that crucial stage. I’ve seen too many hours of what is commonly termed ‘shovelware’ that result from this failure.