Compelling content requires some media chemistry

Media chemists know less is usually more

Media consumers, especially learners, want the easy life. They're interested in the content, not the container. The technology and the interface with which they interact should be invisible. Your design decisions should be invisible. And all that requires a little media chemistry.

There is a limited range of elements which make up all media formats. While there is generally more than one element capable of fulfilling any task, they each have their own particular strengths:

Text is precise. You can read it at your own pace. It requires the barest minimum of bandwidth.

Still images (photos, illustrations, charts and diagrams) show what things look like, clarify cause and effect relationships and depict trends and proportions. They are memorable.

Speech is more expressive than text and combines brilliantly with moving images (animations and videos).

Music creates an emotional response. Elephants like it (see my previous post).

Animation provides the best possible way to illustrate processes (how things work). The movement attracts attention.

Video depicts real-life action. It shows people as they really are.

Media chemists do not throw all these elements into a test tube and heat them up. They take care over what goes with what. However, you do not need a media chemistry degree to sort it out. There's a simple rule.

Text and speech are verbal elements. Still images, animation and video are visual elements. Music's an embellishment that we can put to one side for now. Generally speaking you want to major on a single visual element and a single verbal element. So ...

• text and still images work well together
• animation (perhaps even a sequence of pictures) combines well with speech
• video works just fine with an audio soundtrack (speech, sound effects, music)

But ...

• text and speech used together alongside any visual element makes for difficult viewing (the brain can only process one verbal element, so the learner has to choose which to concentrate on and try to ignore the other)
• video (say a presenter's webcam), alongside still images or animation, is equally distracting because the learner cannot watch both at the same time

See Richard E Mayer's Multimedia Learning (Cambridge University Press, 2009) to see the research that backs all this up.

At this point, you may be feeling a little uncomfortable. After all, lots of e-learning breaks these rules and so do most Powerpoint presentations. That's not an excuse for continuing as things are. A lot of e-learning courses and Powerpoint presentations are tolerated at best, hated at worst. We're trying to be compelling, remember?

It is OK to have a personality

On the assumption that you're not an artist or a video producer (the ones I know don't do a lot of reading), let's concentrate for a moment on the verbal channel. We're talking words.

Back in 2008, Cathy Moore advised us to Dump the Drone. What she meant was that we should write like human beings and not like the legal department. Why do so many talented designers leave their personalities at home when they set about creating learning materials? Probably because they believe that is what their bosses and clients expect. Something safe, non-controversial, corporate and impersonal. No jokes, no anecdotes, no practical examples. Nothing for the elephants at all.

Believe it or not, learning content is written for learners - everyone else just gets in the way. And learners want material that engages, enthuses and explains.

As a general rule:

• use simple words
• limit paragraphs to a single point
• use the active voice (the passive voice is hated by Clive Shepherd)
• use lists like this (but not all the time)
• if you're writing for voiceover, then write like you speak
• keep it brief (edit, edit and then edit again)

And we'd better act fast, because it seems the corporate drones are getting to our children:

A shoe was lived in by an old woman there was. What to do was not known, so many children were had by her. Some broth without bread was given to them, They were all whipped soundly and sent to their beds by her.

Coming next: Compelling content hooks you in and won't let go

In case you missed it:
Six characteristics of compelling content - an introduction
Compelling content requires a cunning plan

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The six characteristics of compelling content: It's time to begin your Skills Journey