What's wrong with this picture?
Zsolt Olah
Data, learning analytics, measurement, technology, engagement => Impact @ Intel. ex-Amazon
Open letter to a Genius Design,
I have to admit, I was speechless the first time I saw this masterpiece. It took me a while to realize the geniusityness behind the seemingly poor and cheap design. I don’t know even know where to start!
Let's start with research! Research shows that our eyes naturally gravitate towards human faces, especially with emotional expressions on them. So, naturally, the first thing caught my eyes was the dude on the top-right.
I wasn’t sure what exactly he’s doing, but the mischievous expression on his face alluded to some non-HR-appropriate behavior. Then I got it! He’s stealing someone’s lunch from the fridge!! Using stock images is a great way to avoid any subtle nuances in human expressions that could be a legal base for a suit. Back to my dude! I looked up again to see the title. Okay, then it dawned on me that it’s not about the lunch in the fridge. Anyway, this dude has more serious problems than sexual harassment. He should probably lay his hands on some therapy.
On to the yellow poster thingy below the dude: REMEMBER!
I’ve never used this technique in my design before. Brilliant! I have to REMEMBER this! Blacking out out half the sentence piques curiosity of the learner. Yes, it looks ugly! But did it make me go to Google to see what was redacted! Of course! That is engagement!! (Go ahead, do it! I know you’re curious.)
It confused me a little whether this was an example of something people actually hang in their workplace (with the blackout), or it is just not decent enough to show it in the elearning module. But then how would we know what we’re not supposed to do?? This poster reminded me of this news piece reporting on vandals who spray-painted derogative words on someone’s wall. Except, the words were all blurred out in the news, and the report didn’t mention any of them. So, when they closed their report with how offensive these words were and you should never use them, it left me wondering like a gray donkey in the fog. What words?
Let’s move on to the third master design element in the picture: the stock image of a guy looking at the attractive woman passing by in the lower-right.
Now, this may be actually two stock photos Photoshopped together. The reason I love this picture is because it drags my attention away from that orange/yellow lightning rod in the middle that kept bothering me from the moment I saw this picture. What does that zig-zag mean? It’s not straight. Was it supposed to be straight? Is this telling us something? What is this squiggle line trying teach us? Oh, this is so intriguing, I even forget to click next!
At this point, my eyes wandered all the way to the three bullet points on the left. Suddenly I understood the meaning behind the three pictures. They belong together! By that, I mean, each bullet point has an illustration on the right. Yes, research shows that you should move together graphics and text to be easy on the brain (split attention) but that might be just old school way of thinking. Some, pre-millennial learning thing. By now, however, I burned most of my cognitive energy just trying to comprehend the genius behind this sexual harassment design. Overall, this screen itself deserves a moment of silence.
I’ve been doing this for more than two decades, yet I learned something new. I never heard of elevator eyes. It took me while to get it!
I’m not even going to touch on the navigation buttons in the middle of the screen (and their colors of significance, if any). Accessibility, anyone? I will close this open letter to all who design and develop elearning like that:
You’re great at what you’re doing! Absolutely, great! Except, you might not be doing what you’re supposed to be doing.
Seriously, would you take this topic seriously if it’s you on the receiving end? I know, reality hits: deadline, budget, resources, etc. It’s not just about wasting 30 minutes of someone’s time. It’s that the intent of this learning, the application of this knowledge, the BEHAVIORS we really want to change, will never take place. But again, maybe it's just me. How about you?
IS IT JUST ME? HOW WOULD YOU REDESIGN THIS?
P.S.: No, I didn’t make up this elearning example. This is real.
?????????? Digital Learning Specialist and Learning Experience Designer
6 年Yes the blacked out text is brilliant! I intend to use it in a more politically correct way, Very funny, tough ;-)
Education & Learner Engagement Lead at The Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
6 年This slide is exactly why "compliance" is a dirty word in the L&D field. So often, and many times because of the regulations themselves, compliance training only allows an organization to check a legal check box. As you wrote, it doesn't do anything to name and change behavior that might ultimately prevent harassment from occurring. Personally, I would not be able to take training that looked like this seriously -- and not because I've been trained to do a better job at visual design and communication. Rather, it's because everything about this one says, "We think so little of this topic that we just threw some stuff on a slide in 1999 that doesn't address the current complexity of sexual harassment, nor does it speak to our values as an organization, and we've been using it ever since." How would I improve it? Even though this is just one slide, trash this presentation and start over. In a more minimalist visual design, clearly state the organization's culture/values and expectations of employees. Use a real-ish situation to give context to the compliance instruction and to show the complexity of the matter, particularly in the age of social media and mobile devices.
*Sherry Serves You* Commercials, Explainers, Corporate Narration, eLearning, Source-Connect [email protected]
6 年My toes are attached to my feet. Thuh sine iz dum. This was very educational about design, though, so thank you.
Global Talent & Culture Manager
6 年"Seriously, would you take this topic seriously if it’s you on the receiving end?"- That's exactly what's so wrong with it. Humor might qualify as a way to get learners attention. But it can easily diminish impoartance and urgency attributed to a topic. NOteworthy example. thx for sharing.
Senior Human Resources Application Analyst-Workday at Rush University Medical Center
6 年Yes, the guy grinning got my attention. He looks demented.