Since recovering (slowly!) from chemo, I've returned to the gym to build back my strength. But recouping takes time, no matter how much I try to increase my level of exercise. Being back in Houston for daily radiation treatments has personally reminded me that memory is an underrated, limited resource that no amount of exercise can expand. Instructional designers know why reducing cognitive load, or the amount of mental processing that occurs in our working memory, is key to helping us handle more situations and improve learning effectiveness.
But why? Because all human working memory allows no more than 5 +/- 2 pieces of information, concepts, or mega-concepts to be held in our brain at one instant. For example: if you 1) have a high-powered or complex job that requires you to change your focus and effort frequently to new and different tasks, 2) you are struggling with a medical issue for your child, and 3) you're trying to quit smoking, that's a lot of cognitive load!
During the past 30 years, a lot of corporate training has garnered a bad reputation. I've heard some say the culprit is over-reliance on PowerPoint or Keynote. Others in our field bemoan expediency brought on by tighter budgets, or instructional designers whose sole qualifications are on-the-job experience. The truth is that training mode, training budget and trainer competency are really not the largest contributors to this problem.
Instead, the real issue is a widely-held misunderstanding by the misinformed majority that presenting information in a pseudo-teaching environment is training. But presenting information is not the same as training. It's just information, presented in an attractive wrapper. Instead, good training aligns with goals and delivers results. And it doesn't have to cost much to be effective. Here's how to easily build a great instructor-led corporate training on a tight budget.
Take a moment to remember an incident recently when you enjoyed first-class customer service that brought you deep satisfaction. Was it buying groceries, or talking with a bank teller at your credit union? Was it while getting your heat pump fixed, or during a meeting with your children's teachers? Before Christmas, Paul and I met with my care team to discuss the results from the chemo and what are next steps, post-surgery. Drum roll please.... I'm currently cancer free!!
That was the great news. But there was something more... because during our many conversation(s) with doctors, physician assistants, nurses and technicians, I could not help but appreciate MD Andersen's incredible culture of customer service first-hand:
One basic principle in graphic design that is very relevant for creating effective elearning modules is that shape precedes color. To be more specific: our brains first interpret what our eyes see into shapes. They then interpret the color of those shapes for contextual understanding. So by defining how shapes are used to convey meaning and purpose in a given elearning project, we leverage the brain's hardwired visual order of operations to improve user experience and boost information retention.
Alternatively, if you ignore the importance of shapes and/or use them inconsistently to communicate meaning or purpose, then you are inviting confusion and cognitive dissonance for the learner. Here are five key ways we recommend using shapes to boost your training effectiveness.
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Merry (early) Christmas to you and your family, or whatever end-of-year celebration is meaningful to you and those you love! At this moment, I am counting down the final days of recovery following my recent mastectomy and lymph node removal surgery in Houston. With Paul by my side, taking loving care of me, it's plainly clear how this 2022 cancer reality has enabled a deep transformation of our marriage for the better.
