Good studies, like this one, will help usability specialists make better initial decisions. The multimedia research literature has few helpful published studies on how design affects learning. Most guidelines come from highly subjective opinions of multimedia developers. In the first study, they tracked eye-movement patterns during the multimedia presentation. Avoid animation that distracts attention from other, more important information on the screen.
Limit reveals to one item at a time and use sequential reveals for related elements.
Avoid animation or reveal motion during the moment of speech when a label is being mentioned. The second study determined that multimedia design influenced recall more than any prior domain knowledge. To imply a clear cause and effect relationship, animation must show more than just the initiation of an action. It must show the result as well. In the third study, Faraday and Sutcliffe revised the multimedia presentation based on their findings and found that participants recalled more information.