Cognitive Overload & How to Avoid It

Mayer and Moreno's article, "Nine Ways to Reduce Cognitive Load in Multimedia Learning" was particularly interesting to me because of how it succinctly and effectively broke down several situations in which multimedia learning can be improved so as not to overwhelm the viewers cognitive load. Much of what was said in the article reinforced Slava's most recent lecture and I found that the information put forth in the article complimented what I took away from Slava's explanation. It seems to me that, if one is able to apply these scenarios to their design when creating their instructional materials, they'll be able to anticipate the needs of their viewers and put forth a design that is accessible, informative, and engaging.

While I appreciate the article and the insight that it provides, I can't help but wonder how a new web designer (like myself, for instance) learns to tweak their design so that it includes/avoids all of the pitfalls of cognitive load. I understand the importance of knowing your viewers and creating your design to support their background knowledge, viewing experience, and learning goals, but it seems overwhelming to know how to anticipate these design objectives from the beginning. Are there any hints as to what works best most generally? Is it fair to say that, so long as you don't cover up your image with text and aren't offering background music + voiceover + animations + text you are off to a good start? What makes instructional design, instructional design? These are some of the questions that I'm left wondering about after reading this article. Any suggestions, thoughts, or feedback would be greatly appreciated : )

(*Note: It is entirely possible that the questions that I'm not considering are only tangentially related--at best--to the cognitive considerations that Mayer and Moreno point out...I think I'm just beginning to figure out what I intend to do with my site and I'm anxious to apply what we're reading and discovering to my actual work*)