Preparing the Pallet

I found that Donald Norman’s comments in his piece, “Attractive Things Work Better,” ran parallel to my own experiences in academia. As a teacher I discovered that one of the most important tasks in preparing for learning was to ‘prepare the pallet.’ In other words I understood early on that creating a proper environment would prepare my students for the lesson and materials I was going to present. As Norman commented, “The emotional system changes how the cognitive system operates.” As my students gathered I generally had smooth jazz music playing on the computer to relax away tensions and set an open mood. As the class progressed I used a variety of tools to engage their minds and tap into their cognitive abilities. It was not uncommon for me to employ videos and YouTube clips during my instruction. These were devices that not only captured their attention but were also things to which their generation could relate. Was I pandering to them too much? Perhaps, opinions vary, but my students were always more interested in learning history than traveling down the hall to learn calculus in a naked, sterile environment. As Norman went on to note, design of a machine, website, or an environment is important because the relaxed mind “is more creative.”

 

Wroblewski and Fogg were not far behind Norman. Wroblewski noted that “The right personality makes a connection with your audience,” and Fogg added that “visual design may be the first test of a site’s credibility.” That impression is important to setting the pallet for communication and reception. I would even suggest that proportionally the design and presentation of a web site is twice as important as the content. This is not to say that content is not important to researchers and historians who live on mining facts. Rather the implication is that sites with valuable content may be by-passed altogether if they don’t hook the historian whose initial visit to a site can be measured in nano-seconds.

 

In his blog Alan Brody suggests that “good design is only the gatekeeper” and that “usability is really the key.” I find that a difficult point to argue, because once past the ‘gate’ the site must be easily navigated and its function credible. I agree also that a good user experience is important. Yet I recommend caution accepting any argument that too readily emphasizes the claim “function should trump form.” If design in this argument cannot trump function in importance it must at least be considered an equal partner. But then again I’ve always be attracted by the “sizzle.”

Comments

[Dan Ludington]

I thought that you perfectly encapsulated the readings for this week: that presentation is just about everything when it comes to New Media. Without an appealing presentation, the user will leave your page immediately. If we take your analygy of the pallet to heart: in order to best color the minds of our potential users, we need to have everything laid out in an appealing manner which can be easily manipulated for the desired effect.

Although, I think that smooth jazz playing on your website might relax the user too much :)

[Laszlo]

That´s interesting that you use so much new media for teaching. I think I would have been a better student had my teachers done the same thing.

When I read Norman, I wasn´t thinking about a teaching environment at all, but now I wonder if his article is more applicable to teaching students than to random people surfing the Net. There must be some good articles on using new media for education.

By the way, I think smooth jazz can be fine for teaching, only please don´t torture them with Kenny G. Then again, if the class did something bad, some Kenny G. might be just the lesson for them.

[Toni Bowman]

Hi John,

You mentioned that you are a teacher...I'm just curious...what do you teach? Which age group? Along with my studies in Art History at Mason, I am also getting my MAT at Johns Hopkins (preparing to teach AP Art History while continuing with graduate work). It's interesting that in 697 we are discussing how emotional state has an effect on learning... at my Hopkins class on Monday night, we discussed the exact same thing! My Hopkins professor emphasized that it's so important to create an emotionally comfortable and safe learning environment for students...helps keep the brains "warm". :) In a less dramatic way, I can see where such ideas would apply to learning on the web, too... Anyway, would love to hear more about your experiences as a teacher whether you are teaching K-12 or even college level.

Toni