Presentation Counts: Educational Web Sites and Creativity, Credibility and Respectability
Most of us know that presentation matters, but few of us realize just how much. We have been raised in a visual society, particularly in the Western world; we are bombarded at all times with images of who we should be, what we should look like, what we need to buy, how we need to live and so forth. These images that we receive are so powerful that they shape not only our culture, but also our very own identity. Why are these images so powerful? Research has shown that of the verbal (what you say, the content), the vocal (how you say it, quality of voice), and the visual (how you look when you say it), the aspect that has the most impact is the visual. In fact, the visual makes up 55% of the message, the vocal 38%, and the verbal, only 8%, (Mehrabian, 1981). This explains why images are so powerful. These data also have implications for designers: non-substantive factors account for a whopping 93% of the message! It’s not what you say, but how you look and sound when you say it that counts. In other words, presentation makes a significant difference.
Most businesses that have a commercial web site presence employ a professional graphic designer to ensure appropriate presentation of the site. These companies understand the importance of presentation. This emphasis on presentation does not, however, carry over to the realm of education. Unlike business sites, educational web sites consistently make the common mistake of focusing on pedagogy and educational content, while paying little or no attention to the visual--to the presentation of the content or the presentation of the pedagogy. At first this statement seems absurd—of course an educational site would focus on content and pedagogy.
After all, an educational web site should certainly be both pedagogically and materially rich. It is simply a fact of life in a multi-media driven world that, in addition to proper pedagogy and content, an educational web site must be designed with presentation in mind. In short, the medium is the message (McLuhan, 1964). Without the proper medium, the message can get lost. In this case, the medium is the World Wide Web, and the web is a graphics based format. The medium and the messages are visual. This means that if little or no attention is paid to presentation, then the result appears amateurish. Lack of professionalism in turn affects the creditability of the site (Stanford Guidelines for Web Credibility, 2003), and ultimately causes the user/viewer to distrust the educational pedagogy and content. Without this trust, the educational goal of the site could be undermined and possibly negated.
Once educators become aware of the importance of presentation to the overall success of their web-based materials, they can focus on the design of their web sites. Essentially, the questions that any web site builder/designer must first ask when constructing the site is, what is my purpose in building the site? Who is my audience? The designer has to know the audience before designing the site, as design choices are based on the audience. Once these questions have been answered satisfactorily, the next step is to consider design. Design can be divided into two categories: design elements and design principles. Design elements are the fundamental tools a designer has to work with: line, shape, mass, texture, and color. Additionally, on the web, designers and builders have text to use as a tool. A good design must be based on some set of principles which work together to create the overall effect and presentation. These principles are balance, contrast, unity, rhythm, and proportion (Lucas, 2001).
In order to demonstrate how these elements and principles work together to create effective design, and thereby enhance presentation, I will look at two educational sites, one that utilizes effective design, and the other that does not. Both sites are intended for elementary school students, and both deal with Africa in some context. The first site is In Search of the Ways of Knowing Trail, which can be found at http://www.brookfieldzoo.org/. The second is Journey to Africa, found at http://www.ahsd25.k12.il.us/Curriculum%20Info/africa/aboutaf.htm. In Search of the Ways of Knowing Trail (ISWKT) utilizes effective design, while Journey to Africa does not.
In Search of the Ways of Knowing Trail is a site geared toward younger learners. For this reason, the designer chose color, shapes, and lines that are more appropriate for this age group. The designer has made the site look more like a cartoon than any realistic place. This design is highly effective for this age group. Closer observation yields some interesting results in the use of the design elements and principles. The colors are somewhat unusual, like the bright greens and black, but they are effective and work well together; the shapes are aptly designed and contribute to the layout; the mass of the objects projects depth and perspective; the individual screens of the site are balanced; there is high sense of unity throughout the program. The proportions used are realistic, even within the cartoonish atmosphere; the contrast between the backgrounds and texts make the text easy to read without causing eye strain.
In terms of design elements, Journey to Africa has difficulty with the basics. There is no sense of shape to the site, and therefore no sense of mass (depth and perception). The design is flat and unappealing. The colors seem randomly chosen and are used discordantly, particularly in the title, which is the main identifier. There is an odd sense of texture, again in the title, but this seems to have been put together without purpose or plan. The designer(s) do no better in terms of design principles. There is a symmetrical balance to the site, but symmetry is artificial and boring, and therefore adds nothing positive to the layout. The only sense of unity is achieved through the use of similar color and face of text; proportion and rhythm are absent.
Essentially what this means is that one of the sites has much more potential to be trusted as genuine and accurate by the user, since such judgments are often based solely on presentation. One site used design elements and principles successfully and creatively, while the other did not. Images have emotional impact—this fact is indisputable. Educators must keep in mind that – regardless of content -- a well-designed web site automatically earns credibility, while the lack of successful design elements undermines trustworthiness. If an educator loses the trust of his/her students, the message and content will be lost. As the web becomes more and more a part of our educational system, it is imperative that educators improve their execution of design in building educational web sites. Not every organization can afford a professional graphic designer, but if we pay attention to the basics, we, as educators, can improve the overall presentation of our sites and thereby further our educational goals and objectives.
References:
Lucas, S. B. (2001). Designing for Instruction. Retrieved October, 7, 2003, from http://bama.ua.edu/~slucas/shelton/index.htm
McLuhan, M. (1964). Understanding Media. New York: Signet Books.
Mehrabian, A. (1981). Silent messages: Implicit communication of emotions and attitudes. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Stanford Guidelines for Web Credibility. (2003). Retrieved October 7, 2003, from http://credibility.stanford.edu/guidelines/index.html