Are animated demonstrations the clearest and most comfortable way to communicate on-screen instructions?

This study uses preference measurements to compare participants’ perceptions of nine versions of on-screen instructions and aims to discover the ones users consider to be the clearest and most comfortable to use. Instructions are divided into 3 categories: composite instructions, synoptic instructions and animated demonstrations. A group of twenty-four adult participants ranked instructions, first within the same category and then between categories. Even though no data was gathered to suggest which type of instruction will lead to better learning, the results show that animations are perceived as being the clearest and most comfortable to use. Users are likely to welcome animations, particularly for learning highly dynamic and non-intuitive software drawing tasks (i.e., using Bezier tools).