How to Turn Cognitive Load and Multimedia Principles into Real-World L&D Impact

Have you ever built a course that ticked every box on paper, only for learners to abandon it faster than a training webinar on a Friday afternoon?

You’re not alone.

In a digital learning landscape that’s set to exceed $848 billion by 2030, expectations are sky-high. Learners want relevance, clarity, and engagement. Stakeholders want results. And course creators are stuck somewhere in between, wrestling with slide decks and wondering whether to add another stock photo of a person thinking.

So what’s the solution?According to the Digital Learning Institute, it’s learning science — specifically, understanding how brains work so you can build courses that do too.

Let’s unpack what that actually means and how you can apply it in the real world.

1. Let’s Talk Cognitive Load

Your brain is powerful, but it’s not bottomless. Like a smartphone with too many apps open, it lags when overloaded. Enter Cognitive Load Theory, which tells us we need to manage the mental effort we’re asking of learners.

Here’s the breakdown:

• Intrinsic Load: The actual difficulty of what’s being learned (e.g. learning to fly a plane).

• Extraneous Load: All the messy stuff that gets in the way (e.g. cluttered screens, unclear instructions, 90s PowerPoint transitions).

• Germane Load: The good stuff — effort that helps learning stick (e.g. stories, visuals, simulations).

  
  

Real-world fix: When we designed a course on hazardous substances for a client, we stripped out chunky paragraphs and built the core concepts into a game where you had to save people from a major spill of a mysterious green ooze. Learners had to spot the red flags in real time. Intrinsic load? Managed. Extraneous load? Minimised. Germane load? Fully flexed.

2. Master the Multimedia Balancing Act

Richard Mayer’s multimedia learning principles are pure gold if you’ve ever wondered why some courses feel effortless — and others feel like wading through treacle.

Key takeaways:

• Words + Pictures > Text Alone (Multimedia Principle)

• Keep Labels Close to Visuals (Contiguity Principle)

• Narrate, Don’t Just Caption (Modality Principle)

• Cut the Clutter (Coherence Principle)

• Use a Friendly Tone (Personalisation Principle)

  
  

Real-world fix: In our Manual Handling course, we used a voiced-over animated scenario of a circus strongman making critical safety decisions — complete with relatable characters, clear diagrams and no fluff.

3. Make It Interactive (But Not Just for Show)

Quizzes, branching scenarios, simulations — yes, please. But they must serve a purpose. Interaction should guide, not just glide.

Real-world fix: For a major retail client, we introduced interactive video where contact centre team members had to respond to escalating conflicts. Each choice changed the story arc, letting learners experience the consequences in a risk-free space.

That’s interaction with impact.

4. Tell a Good Story. Every Time.

Stories aren’t just for bedtime. They’re neuroscience-backed attention magnets. Emotional connection helps learners move information from working memory to long-term memory. And in digital learning? That’s the whole game.

Real-world fix: For a healthcare provider, we told the story of a number of medical professionals navigating through their day-to-day lives. Their journeys made the training feel human — and made the learning stick.

5. Build Courses That Feel Effortless to Navigate

If your learner needs a map to figure out what to do next, you’ve lost them. Smooth UX reduces extraneous load, supports autonomy, and boosts course completion.

Golden rule: Don’t make people think about how to learn. Help them focus on what to learn.

Final Thought: Brains Are Predictable — Use That to Your Advantage

Here’s the big idea: Learning science isn't just theory for academics in lab coats. It’s practical. It’s powerful. And it helps us build learning that works.

At Popcorn, we use these principles every day to create custom eLearning content and digital learning solutions that feel intuitive, engaging and actually do what they’re meant to — improve performance.

So next time someone asks for a course that’s “just the basics”, you can smile politely and ask:

“Would you like the basics to be forgotten, or followed?”

Because when you understand how people learn, you stop guessing and start designing.