Animation

Research about animations or motion in instructional materials states:

• "animation (motion) can lead to positive learning effects if it is a critical attribute of the concept(s) being presented
• animation (motion) can increase learning of a complex procedural task
• motion or action used primarily to enhance the realism of the presentation does not appear to have a significant effect on learning" [1, p. 766]

According to Nielsen [2], appropriate uses for animation include:

• showing continuity in transitions - "When something has two or more states, then changes between states will be much easier for users to understand if the transitions are animated instead of being instantaneous - ie proving the Pythagorean theorem by animating the movement of various squares and triangles as they move around to demonstrate that two areas are the same size"
• indicating dimensionality in transitions - animated arrows pointing left and right can indicate movement forward and back, zooming boxes can indicate one screen was enlarged from another
• illustrating change over time - showing population change by fading from one density map to the next over time
• multiplexing the display - showing more than one piece of information in the same location - ie, buttons which change color when the mouse rolls over them, help labels which appear when the cursor is on top, menus which pull down when you hold the mouse down
• enriching graphical representations - animated icons can give a better understanding of the function of the icon - ie. an eraser icon which erases pixels to explain its function

Moving images focus attention. A study by Reeves and Nass [3] using an EEG to measure brain waves showed that attention increased every time motion appeared on the screen. Needless to say, it is hard to concentrate on reading a message if your brain is attending to the spinning logo or the cycling advertisement at the top of the screen. Rieber states that "designers...must resist incorporating special effects, like animation when no rationale exists.