Interaction and Usability of Simulations & Animations: A case study of the Flash Technology
Andreas Holzinger, Martin Ebner · 2003
Abstract When designing and developing simulations & animations for e-Learning purposes, basically two factors are essential: Interaction Design and Graphic Design. Both aspects are well addressed by using different Authoring Tools including the vector-based Flash technology. Although it has improved since its release, Flash still encourages superfluous animation and thus increases the likely hood of poor design. This paper is the result of practical experiences within two large projects (VMC-Graz, iVISiCE) in different domains (Medicine, Civil Engineering) where Flash- amongst several other tools – was used as a tool for creating interactive content. The work is interesting due to the match of experiences of both domains resulting from Usability studies. It is essential that we include the perspective of human-computer interaction as early as possible to enhance design, an approach that is still rarely included in the solutions of traditional programmers and technologically oriented content developers.