1. Audience
1.1. Are they global or local?
1.2. Is it print or digital, and how does this affect the design?
2. User-friendliness
2.1. For the teacher and for the students
2.2. Is it consistent, but not so consistent that it gets dull
2.3. Consistency can be a challenge. You want consistency over a coursebook or online course, yet at the same time you don't want to lose variety. In the real world, things are inconsistent, so it's good to get out of the comfort zone with some variety.
3. does the design encourage a feeling of progression?
4. good visual design supports understanding through simplicity, clarity and organisation. Nothing in the design ... distracts fro communication. Vai M and Sosulski K 2011
4.1. good design isn't distracting
5. graphic elements
6. Navigation and flow. What elements might participants need at any time?
6.1. buttons
6.1.1. buttons for things in the course, links go out
6.1.2. may be needed for:
6.1.2.1. glossary
6.1.2.2. help
6.1.2.3. communications
6.1.2.4. FAQs
6.1.2.5. notes facilty
6.2. Where do they probably need to go next?
6.2.1. link to next activity
6.2.1.1. may say what it will be about
6.3. Where else may they want to go next if not next activity or unit?
6.3.1. unit home
6.3.2. course home
6.4. Mantra: build in as much flexibility as possible
6.4.1. comes down to allowing choice
6.5. What if they want to go away and come back. Can they jump back in?
6.5.1. Thinkific is good for that.
6.6. What if they want to go back to something else?
6.6.1. e.g. revisit forums
6.6.1.1. Nile has nice revisit collaborative activites
6.6.2. open in same page, assumes they've finished and carry on
6.6.3. open in new page: assumes we will carry on with the page we are on.
7. Colour
7.1. Very important. We all remember the old days when many materials were in black and white.
8. Images
8.1. Images are really important not just as decoration like here, but as triggers for discussion. They can be treated as texts themselves
8.1.1. Ben Godstein has done alot about image in ELT https://www.slideshare.net/margarubiosoto/the-digital-image-ben-goldstein-elt
8.1.1.1. Criteria for choosing images:
8.1.1.1.1. openness to multiple readings
8.1.1.1.2. opportunity for personalisation
8.1.1.1.3. visual impact
8.1.1.1.4. element of surprise
8.1.1.1.5. cultural associations
9. Is it up to date and does it have local relevence
10. page layout
10.1. The page layout is important. Is it consistent with other pages? This is important in reducing cognitive load on students. It also needs to be not to crowded, and not too text heavy so students are not demotivated.
10.2. open and uncluttered. The less there is, the more they focus on the one thing
10.2.1. we have unlimited pages in digital. make the most of it
10.2.2. the opportunity lost by increasing the amount of blank space is gained back with enhanced attention on what remains... When there is less we appreciate everything more. Maeda John, Laws of Simplicity 2006, Mit press
10.2.3. put a big gap between paragraphs
10.2.4. wider line spacing. more open
10.2.5. the margins are wider/lines are shorter. ease of reading. more white space
10.2.6. don't justify, have a ragged right margin to avoid irregular word spacing.
10.2.6.1. the danger of a 'river' in which athe eye is drawn down a random white line!
10.2.7. bullet points, indentations and coloured subtitles make long text more readable and less repetitive
10.2.7.1. only use numbering if sequence is important
10.2.8. dividing lines can chunk the information.
10.2.9. Nile courses have the task in green to make it clear what the task is, have the instructions only in it. Easy to say if it's completed or not
11. text
11.1. typefaces
11.1.1. use sans serif font
11.1.2. use min 12 point (small for tablet or phone - 14 or 16 better
11.1.3. headings 24 (powerpoint minimum)
11.1.4. do use bold and italics
11.1.4.1. bold for important
11.1.4.2. italics different things. e.g. book titles
11.1.4.3. don't use underline
11.2. on coloured background or image: make it dark on light or light on dark (not black on white - hard for dyslexia) be careful for colour blindness, diff colours with same hue a problem
11.2.1. Contrast! (but not too much)
11.2.2. warning about writing over images
11.3. symbols and icons
11.3.1. useful for consistency
11.3.2. they are a type of short hand
11.3.3. good to show unit number
11.3.3.1. reading activity
11.3.3.2. pairwork activity
11.3.4. https://thenounproject.com/ a great source
12. Experts:
12.1. Julie Dirksen
12.1.1. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13127519-design-for-how-people-learn
12.2. Vai M and Sosulski K
12.2.1. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26407182-essentials-of-online-course-design
12.3. Williams R
12.3.1. the non-designers design book