Story Research, UX, Resumes: ID Links 1/20/22

Curated links on research on how stories improve learning, UX, transforming teacher resumes, adaptive learning, AI voices, and animation.

As I read online, I bookmark resources I find interesting and useful. I share these links periodically here on my blog. This post includes links on research on how stories improve learning, UX, transforming teacher resumes, adaptive learning, AI voices, and animation.

Research summary: How stories improve learning

Ask the Cognitive Scientist | American Federation of Teachers

Daniel Willingham summarizes some of the research on how stories can improve learning. In addition to the research examples, he explains elements of story as found in movies and explains how these can be applied in learning. While the learning examples are all focused on classroom teaching, some of this could be applied to workplace training too.

UX

User Experience Design

This “User Experience Honeycomb” identifies different facets of user experience (UX). Visual aesthetics can make a user experience “desirable,” but that’s not the same as it being “useful.” h/t Judy Katz

Jakob’s Law | Laws of UX

This came up in a discussion on LinkedIn about whether visual appeal leads to better learning outcomes. (h/t Sarah Mercier) While this isn’t about learning, it’s about usability–and that is important in how people perceive and interact with elearning. It doesn’t answer the question about learning outcomes, but visual design can have strong effects on perception.

Users often perceive aesthetically pleasing design as design that’s more usable.

An aesthetically pleasing design creates a positive response in people’s brains and leads them to believe the design actually works better.

People are more tolerant of minor usability issues when the design of a product or service is aesthetically pleasing.

Laws of UX

Teacher to ID resumes

Transform Your Trashy Teacher Resume

A real life example of a former teacher’s resume and how she revamped it to successfully get a job in instructional design. Great to see the before and after as well as the notes on the decisions behind the changes.

Adaptive learning

Instructional Currentz Video w/ Billy Wilson on Adaptive Learning | EPPIC – Pursuing Performance

Guy Wallace and Billy Wilson had an hour-long conversation about adaptive learning. I got a mention near the end for some of my writing about Twine.

AI voices

AI Voice Generator: Versatile Text to Speech Software | MURF

This is an AI voice service with monthly and annual plans. While I still think that real voices are going to be more effective for most of the scenario-based learning I create because people can emote, I can see the value in using AI voices for straightforward narration. You can currently do either a free test of 10 minutes with no downloads or buy a single pack of 30 minutes with a reduced list of available voices for $9, plus larger plans for more time.

Animation

Free Lottie Animation Files, Tools & Plugins – LottieFiles

Lottie animations are lightweight. This site has both free and paid animations. You can also do quick edits in their browser-based editor (like changing colors or text), as well as integrating with other tools. The animations users see after completing a Duolingo lesson are examples of Lottie animations.

Additional resources

Check out my complete library of links or my previous bookmarks posts.

Leave a Reply