Vanita, Robin, Jeannette, & Chris

*Production Paper Summary

*Background

*Social modeling for children with

Asperger’s

*Direction taken from usability testing

*Tutorials to support first-time users

*Clarify button names

*Design Decisions

*Animation

*Practical considerations

*Functional considerations

*Attract attention (Lowe, 2004)

*Engage learners (Lowe)

*Sustain motivation (Lowe)

*Reduction of extraneous cognitive load (Mayer et al.,

2005)

*Design Decisions

*Animation – Research is inconclusive

*Ayres et al. (2005; 2007) identify why

animation may not be effective:

* Information is transitory

* Animations are a series of successive elements

*To offset these characteristics:

* ‘tracing’ – leaving information on the screen

* Build in user-control (Ayres et al., 2005)

*Voice and Text

*Objective of using voice–overs/ sound and text:

*To enhance user experience

*To engage and catch the user’s attention

*Rationale:

* “In contrast to print and audio comparisons, which generally reveal no advantage for dual over single presentations, studies show that adding pictures to print or audio generally increases learning” (Nugent, 1992)

*A dual modality presentation improves user comprehension and retention.

*“Flexibility is extremely important to system use since different users may require different degrees of support” (Sipior and Garrity, 1992)

*A mix of audio and visual components improves attributes such as perception, attention, comprehension, and retention.

*Research also revealed some Disadvantages

*“a special consideration for video (and spoken audio) is that any narration may lead to difficulty for international users as well as for users with a hearing disability” (Nielsen, 1995)

*Decision made:

*a combination of voice and

*use of simple text along with graphics and icons.

Text and Voice

Voice

Text

*Colour and Graphics

*Facilitate learning rather than distract

* Figure familiarity and consistency

* Clear, recognizable, transferable, simple shapes,

symmetry or balance of positioning

* Coordinated color palette and background

contrast

* Text without button surround:

simplified, less cluttered

*Segment Length

*Episodic nature of memory – Mayes & Roberts (2001) – visual information most salient

*Optimal web video episode length – Nielsen (2005) - keep it short, less than one minute

*Google Sketchup and Adobe tutorials – one to eight minute lengths

*Czerwinski & Horvitz (2002) – let a previous task item fade from memory before introducing a new one

*An issue of length or amount of information required to perform a task?

*Assessment of Learning

*Usability testing

* Parallel design: test multiple design prototypes

* Dynamic animated – graphics, voice, text

* Still images with text

* Test efficacy of learning with Virti-Cue mock-up

* 3-5 Users

* Test with/without both designs

* Open-ended questionnaire plus compare/contrast

* Observation of specified task performances

* Iterative design

* Ease and efficiency of use

* Few errors, pleasant to use

* Achievement of learning goal

*Static Graphic/Text

*Animations

*Trial 1 – Stop Action Animation

*Trial 2 – Animating ‘Jings’

*Trial 3 … Word, Jing, PinPoint, Camtasia - final?

*Animating ‘Jings’

Back Back

*Stop Action Animation

Back

*Word, Jing, Pinpoint, Camtasia

*Questions?

*References

* Ayres, P., Kalyuga, S., Marcus, N., & Sweller, J. (2005). The conditions under which instructional animations may be effective. Paper presented at an International Workshop and Mini-conference, Open University of the Netherlands: Heerlen, The Netherlands. Retrieved from www.ou.nl/Docs/Expertise/OTEC/Nieuws/icleps%20conferentie/ Ayres.doc

* Ayres, P., & Paas, F. (2007). Making instructional animations more effective: A cognitive load approach. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 21, 695-700. doi: 10.1002/acp.1343

* Czerwinski, M., & Horvitz, E. (2002). An investigation of memory for daily computing events. In Xristine Faulkner, Janet Finlay, & Françoise Détienne (Eds.). People and computers XVI – memorable yet invisible: Proceedings of HCI 2002 (pp. 229-245). London, ENG: Springer-Verlag.

* Grantastic Designs. URL: http://www.grantasticdesigns.com/graphics.html

* Lowe, R.K. (2004). Animation and learning: Value for money? In R. Atkinson, C. McBeath, D. Jonas-Dwyer & R. Phillips (Eds), Beyond the comfort zone: Proceedings of the 21st ASCILITE Conference (pp. 558-561). Perth, 5-8 December. Retrieved from http://www.ascilite.org.au/conferences/perth04/procs/lowe-r.html

* Malamed, C., eLearning, Information & Visual Designer. Retrieved from http://theelearningcoach.com/learning/visual-clarity-and-learning/

* Mayer, R., Hegarty, M., Mayer, S., & Campbell, J. (2005). When static media promote active learning: Annotated illustrations versus narrated animations in multimedia instruction. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 11(4), 256-265. Retrieved from http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/356/1413/1395.full.pdf+html

* Mayes, A. R., & Roberts, N. (2001). Theories of episodic memory. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of Bilogical Sciences, 356, 1395-1408. doi 10.1098/rstb.2001.0941

* Nielsen, J. (1995). Guidelines for multimedia. Jakob Nielsen's alertbox for December 1995. Retrieved from http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9512.html

* Nielsen, J. (2009). Parallel & Iterative Design. Jakob Nielsen’s alertbox for January 2011. Retrieved from http://www.useit.com/alertbox/design-diversity-process.html

* Nielsen, J. (2005). Talking-head video is boring online. Jakob Nielsen’s alertbox, December 5, 2005. Retrieved from http://www.useit.com/alertbox/video.html

* Nugent, G. (1982). Pictures audio and print: Symbolic representation and effect on learning. Educational Comm. Tech. J. 30, 3, 163-174.

* Online Technology Learning Center, Tuscaloosa City Schools. Retrieved from http://www.online.tusc.k12.al.us/tutorials/grdesign/grdesign.htm

* Reynolds, G., Associate Professor of Management, Kansai Gaidai University, Japan. Retrieved from http://www.garrreynolds.com/Design/basics.html

* Sharkey, J., Course Development and Web services, University of Central Florida. Retrieved from http://cdws.ucf.edu/teams/exec/index.html

* Sipior, J.C.& Garrity, E.J., (1992). Merging expert systems with multimedia technology. ACM SIGMUS Database, 23(1), 45-49. doi: 10.1145/134347.134359

* Skaalid, B., College of Education, University of Saskatchewan. Retrieved from http://www.usask.ca/education/coursework/skaalid/media/graphics.htm

* UCAR and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, US. Retrieved from http://www.comet.ucar.edu/index.htm

* U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (2006). Research-Based Web Design & Usability Guidelines. Retrieved from http://www.usability.gov/index.html

* Webster K., Online Course Developer/Consultant, University of Victoria. Retrieved from http://distance.uvic.ca/teams/index.htm