To put it simply, the software must make the learner think. Learning cannot be approached as a conventional task, with a number of problems to be solved, and an output to be produced. This is because learning is a by-product of doing something else. This can be achieved in many ways, but none of them have much to do with the conventional multimedia properties of the content. The paper will conclude by examining the relationship between usability and educational effectiveness.
Usable systems involve capitalising on the user's pre-existing knowledge.
Similarly, easily learned material involves information for which a framework for extracting meaning is already in place. Attempting to learn material for which no such framework exists is, literally, a meaningless task.