Mayer's 12 Principles of Multimedia
- Daniel Rogers
Helpful article on Mayer’s 12 Principles with visual aids.
After several years of research, Richard Mayer, an American educational psychologist, recommends the following guidelines to enhance multimedia for the purpose of education and communication.
1 Coherence Principle
Use only the information that the learner needs.
Most often, that means simple text and simple visuals that relate directly to the learning topic.
Remove all the fluff.
“Is this image 100% necessary to help with comprehension? Or could you find a better one?
Does this message use simple enough language so the audience will understand? Maybe I could trim down a few words.”
2 Signaling Principle
Show exactly what to pay attention to.
What is the most important part?
Highlight important words.
Using arrows to direct attention.
Use slides or scenes that separate learning sections to signal that we’re moving to the next topic.
3 Redundancy Principle
Humans learn best with narration and graphics, as opposed to narration, graphics, and text.
Only include graphics or text, but not both together.
If they are together, make text minimal.
4 Spatial Contiguity Principle
Relevant text and visuals should be physically close together.
5 Temporal Contiguity Principle
Corresponding words and visuals are presented together, instead of in consecutive order.
Animation (or visual) should be occurring at the same time as the voiceover audio. This is preferred to having the voiceover audio play first, and then watching a visual after
6 Segmenting Principle
Information is presented in segments, rather than one long continuous stream.
When learners can control the pace of their learning, they performed better on recall tests.
Add next buttons or allow the user to adjust the speed at which a video plays.
Break up learning into smaller, bite-sized chunks. Make sure no one lesson, slide, or video has too much information packed in it.
7 Pre-Training Principle
Humans learn more efficiently if they already know some of the basics.
This often means understanding basic definitions, terms, or concepts before beginning the learning experience.
You can use this principle by creating an introductory “guide” or “cheat sheet” for learners to use throughout the course.
Or you can create an entire lesson up front dedicated to understanding the basics, before the learner moves into the actual course.
8 Modality Principle
Humans learn best from visuals and spoken words than from visuals and printed words.
If there are visuals and too much text, learners will be overwhelmed.
Limit the amount of text you use on screen overall.
Rely more on visuals, unless you need to define key terms, list steps, or provide directions.
9 Multimedia Principle
Images and words are more effective than words alone
10 Personalization Principle
Humans learn best from a more informal, conversational voice than an overly formal voice.
Keep your language simple and casual.
Avoid overly professional sounding text, or long, complex words.
Use the first person (you, I, we, our). This is where it helps to consider your audience demographics.
11 Voice Principle
Humans learn best from a human voice than a computer voice
12 Image Principle
Humans do not necessarily learn better from a talking head video.
Relevant images and animations are more effective than a talking head of an instructor.
Talking heads can provide some value for the instructor by building credibility and trust.
This is especially useful to establish at the beginning of your learning experience.
Try to limit your use of talking heads as your video or course dives deeper into the learning content.