Need to create an e-learning presentation but don’t have an eye for good visuals? This episode is for you! 

We revisit a great past episode with Diane Elkins, instructional design pro and owner of Artisan Learning. There’s so much solid advice in this episode on what works, what to avoid, and how visuals impact the learning experience (probably more than you think).

Diane explains how bad visuals inhibit learning, why simpler is often better, and why “slides” are due a name change. Plus, she gets on her soapbox to explain the real goal of e-learning. We also look at some examples of pretty, plain, and hideous slides to compare, based on a real experiment Diane used to test out visual design. 

One thing to note: We do share some visuals in this episode of good and bad design choices, so for the full experience, we recommend checking out the episode on YouTube.

Learning points from the episode include:

• 00:00 – 02:44 Introduction to Diane and her work
• 02:44 – 04:57 The role in visuals in e-learning
• 04:57 - 07:33 Best practices for visuals and what to avoid
• 07:33 – 11:11 Mindset shifts to avoid over-the-top visuals
• 11:11 – 13:20 Why visuals are even more important in e-learning scenarios
• 13:20 – 16:25 How to decide what information to put on a slide
• 16:25 – 21:53 Diane’s pretty, plain, and hideous visual design experiment
• 21:53 – 25:00 Why simple is often better for learning
• 25:00 – 29:34 Why “is it helpful?” is the most important question to ask
• 29:34 – 31:31 Why visual aids should always be in service of the audience
• 31:31 – 38:42 An example of whether we should decorate or illustrate with visuals
• 38:42 – 46:18 Can we fix it? Diane’s advice to bad design examples
• 46:18 – 49:49 Speed round questions
• 49:49 – 51:40 Outro

Important links and mentions:

• Visit e-Learning Uncovered: www.elearninguncovered.com
• Visit Artisan Learning: www.artisanelearning.com
• Connect with Diane on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dpelkins/