The navigation of an eLearning course is the first thing that people notice. If learners struggle to find their way around, they’re likely to lose interest quickly. A poorly structured navigation system can create frustration, leading learners to abandon the course before they’ve even started absorbing the material.
Consistency: Ensure that buttons, links, and navigation tools are consistent throughout the course.
Visibility: Make sure that important functions like progress tracking, user profiles, and additional resources are easy to find.
Flow: Design the course so that moving from one section to another feels intuitive and seamless.
While it’s tempting to make your eLearning course visually striking, overcrowded slides can lead to sensory overload. This mistake often occurs when too many elements—such as images, animations, and text—are crammed onto a single slide, overwhelming the learner.
Balance: Use graphics to supplement, not overpower, the content.
Clarity: To keep readers’ attention, present information in digestible portions, using bullet points and concise text.
Simplicity: Avoid overusing colours and animations, which can distract rather than engage.
An eLearning course should feel like a journey, with each section naturally leading to the next. A lack of flow can leave learners confused and disoriented, making it difficult for them to connect different parts of the material.
Storytelling: Treat your course like a story, with a clear beginning, middle, and end.
Prioritisation: Highlight critical points early on and reinforce them throughout the course.
Visual Cues: Use different fonts, colours, and positioning to guide learners’ attention through the content.
Good eLearning design ensures that each module builds on the previous one, reinforcing knowledge and making the learning process feel cohesive.
Even if your content is valuable, presenting it in a monotonous way can lead to disengagement. Learners require variation to stay engaged and absorb information.
Multimedia Use: Incorporate videos, interactive quizzes, and other media to break up text-heavy slides.
Interactivity: Use branching scenarios and simulations to promote active engagement.
Gamification: Use gamification techniques to make learning more interesting and enjoyable.
Rapid eLearning Development techniques can help you quickly create varied content that keeps learners engaged without sacrificing quality.
5. Lack of Device Compatibility
Today’s learners expect flexibility, and if your eLearning course is only available on one type of device, you’re likely to lose a significant portion of your audience. Courses that aren’t optimised for mobile devices, for example, can be frustrating to navigate, leading to poor retention.
Responsive Design: Ensure your eLearning content adapts seamlessly to different screen sizes, from desktops to smartphones.
Accessibility: Make sure that navigation and content are accessible on all devices, including touchscreens.
Testing: Regularly test your courses on various devices to ensure compatibility and ease of use.
6. Underutilising LMS Tools
Multimedia Integration: Use your LMS to integrate videos, podcasts, and interactive scenarios into your course.
Progress Tracking: Implement tools for tracking learner progress and providing feedback.
Customisation: Use LMS capabilities to tailor the learning experience to the needs of your learners.
By fully utilising the capabilities of your LMS, you can create a more dynamic and effective learning environment that supports better knowledge retention.
Avoiding common eLearning design mistakes is essential for creating training programs that not only engage learners but also help them retain what they’ve learned. By focusing on structured navigation, balanced visuals, cohesive flow, varied content, device compatibility, and effective use of LMS tools, you can design eLearning courses that truly make a difference.
Maximise Knowledge Retention with Expert eLearning Design
