Dialogue with characters

Interestingly I think your question gets a bit more to the heart or “blocking a scene” for a film or TV show than ISD. I’ve built more than a few dialogue screens in my life and many of them stood apart in unique ways due to the content.

Learners will understand our content better if it mirrors other content they have experience with (https://lawsofux.com/jakobs-law/) so it sounds like cues can be taken from TV.

Based on what you’ve shared so far, I think the question of which characters are visible on screen and when can come down to who is speaking and to whom. If one of the characters is speaking but learners can’t see the person/avatar being spoken to, it risks disconnecting learners from the message.

I understand the temptation to throw all the dialogue on screen at once, and that can be good enough for many situations, but it’s the least effort and immersion. The message will suffer because of its messenger (the slide design.)

You mention using layers for these people and their speech boxes. From how I design similar slides, that seems extra complex. Is there an advantage for you using layers versus staggering images and shapes on the base layer’s timeline like in a video editor?