At first glance it seems reasonable to postulate that designers should strive to create experiences in which delight is optimized and difficulty is minimized. Reviews of multimedia software suggest that,in fact, different groups of instructional multimedi a designers have tried either to optimize delight or to minimize difficulty. Unfortunately, neither approach results in optimal experience for most learning. At a fundamental level, the components that designers manipulate in creating experience are function and form. Function and form are not the same thing, although they are highly interdependent.
Functions are capabilities of the system and the learner within the system.
Forms are the maifestations of functions in all possible states. The type of interactivity is the result of design decisions, whether they are made consciously or unconsciously. The matrix illustrates the distinction between design quality and production value as components of multimedia software. Compared to the color depth, text treatments, and animation possibilities of today, the production quality of that product was fairly low. In such an extended matrix we could describe software exhibiting low design quality and low production value and low learning, or software exhibiting low design quality and low production value and high learning.