White paper
The Learner as user
White Paper: Usability in e-learning
'Well designed objects are easy to interpret and understand. They
contain visible clues to their operation. Poorly designed objects
can be difficult and frustrating.'
This definition, from Donald Norman's 'The Psychology of Everyday
Things', can equally well be applied to e-learning. An object that
enables us to interact easily with the functions it is designed
to perform - whether it be a coffee pot, a mobile phone, or an online
interface - makes itself invisible to us. We use it effortlessly.
However, things that are difficult to use impose an extra 'cognitive
load' that moves us away from the task we originally intended to
accomplish - in this case, to learn.
Learners faced with a frustrating interface, or a counter-intuitive
menu structure, are distracted from their learning experience. You
shouldn't have to waste time learning how to use the e-learning,
when what you really want to learn is how to fix a gas boiler, say,
or put out a fire on an aeroplane.
This new white paper by Mark Aberdour and Rachel
Smith of Epic synthesises the work of major writers on
usability such as Neilsen and Norman, applying their work specifically
to e-learning, and adds insights and methodologies derived from
everyday practice. What emerges is a learner-centric approach that
can help any e-learning content developer significantly increase
the likelihood of producing a successful and highly usable program.
White Paper: Usability in e-learning
Order your free copy
Summary of contents:
- The need for better usability
- What is usability?
- The cost of poor usability
- Return on investment of usability
- So much information, so little time…
- Learner-centric interface design
- Making e-learning work
- Reducing the gulf between intended and actual use
- Putting your learners first
- Establishing the needs of the learner
- Nielsen’s 10 usability heuristics
- Learning design heuristics
- Design patterns
- Usability in the project life cycle
- Usability analysis and requirements
- Prototyping the design
- Reusability in learner-centric design
- Usability evaluations
- Conclusion
- References
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