Design Principles

As I completed this week’s readings on Mayer’s design principles, Gestalt Theory, and CRAP design principles, I took time to review my training programs to see how they stand up to these design principles. I discovered that although EDU642 is my first formal introduction to these concepts, I have unknowingly incorporated some of these design principles into my training programs. I had to ask myself how this happened and realized I put myself in the shoes of an adult learner as I redesigned my courseware during the COVID pandemic.


The pandemic was a forcing function for me to move my intelligence planning training programs from a brick and mortar classroom to a virtual learning environment using the Blackboard Learn Learning Management System (Bb). I now see how I incorporated the CRAP principles and Gestalt Theory in my Bb courses. Here are a few examples:

  • I didn’t want the course content pages to be only words on a screen. I incorporated images and bold text for headings to create appealing and natural breaks on the pages.

  • I made every hyperlink the same font to train learners of this pattern. Anything in Arial Bold, Blue Azure, Four Point Font redirected the learner to a slideshow, reference document, assignment, etc.

  • I ensured every element was connected - the heading, the spacing, the font - so learners would not be distracted or confused as they navigated the course.

  • Slides, references, assignments are all located in one place, and there isn’t anything that requires more than “three clicks” to access.


Although I have incorporated many design principles, I also realize where my courses need work, particularly with incorporating Mayer’s design principles. My course lessons are currently delivered using Microsoft PowerPoint. Two principles I can definitely improve on are coherence and redundancy:

  • The slides currently consist of a lot of animations. I believe I used animation for animation's sake, and it is actually a distractor. I need to relook how I use animation to build material on a slide and only incorporate it if it enhances learning.

  • The slides have both graphics and on screen text with my narration. Based on Mayer’s redundancy principle, I can remove the text to improve adult learning.


This week’s lesson and reading assignments were eye opening for me. The days of in person training in my agency are a thing of the past and virtual learning is here to stay. Having a better understanding of these design principles will ensure my training programs remain learner-centered.