[ARCHIVED] Why is Canvas so plain and ugly?

[leslie_irvine]

Even the website is just text. Blechh. I know you're going to point me to the designer link, but that just bounces me over to the same list of topics that appear for instructors. A list? Really? That's how you show your stuff? This puts me to sleep. I can't blame students for rolling their eyes. 

[Chris_Hofer]

Hello  @leslie_irvine  Welcome to the Canvas Community.  Thank you for posting your question.  I am sorry to hear that you aren't liking the look of the Canvas interface.  For clarification, are you specifically talking about the Canvas interface where you and your students are enrolled in courses?  Or, are you referring to the Canvas Community website?  Or, maybe you have questions about both?  The Canvas LMS (Learning Management System) and the Canvas Community website are two separate sites, so it would help to know which you are referring to.  Also, if there are specifics about the site that you have questions about, there are all kinds of Community members here (including myself) that are willing to help answer your questions.  A screen shot or two from you (being careful not to reveal any student names/student grades) might also be helpful so we can help troubleshoot anything on your end.  Hope to hear back from you soon, Leslie...

[leslie_irvine]

I'm referring to the Canvas LMS mainly. I thought there'd be more on the Community website, too, but I'm less bothered by that. Here's the screenshot:

[Chris_Hofer]

Good morning,  @leslie_irvine ...

I'm not seeing the screen shot that you wanted to include.  Could you try re-attaching that to your previous message or post a new message below with the screen shot?  Thanks!

[leslie_irvine]

How about now?

[leslie_irvine]

[Chris_Hofer]

Thanks for posting a screen shot,  @leslie_irvine .  What kinds of questions do you have?  Are you wanting to add some visual elements to your courses such as images, videos, etc. to enhance your courses so it's not just text?  There are several links here in the Community website where people have provided great examples of course design...such as how to design an inviting course home page.  If you could provide some details on what your concerns are, that would help in steering you to some great resources.

Second, I'm not seeing it on your screen shot, but I wonder if your local Canvas administrators have considered enabling Canvas Commons (it would show up as an icon named "Commons" on your left-hand side global navigation menu).  Canvas Commons is a large repository of shared content from all kinds of Canvas customers from around the world that can be imported into your own course.  The nice thing about Commons is that you can preview the content prior to importing it into your own course...so that you can get an idea of how others are designing content in their own course(s).

Next, I wanted to provide a couple links for you about the history of Instructure...and why they designed a simple interface that works for the majority of users.  Please check out these resources I found:

• https://www.instructure.com/about/our-story
• The Other Brian Whitmer: The Story of Instructure (posted May 21, 2010)

I thought there'd be more on the Community website, too, but I'm less bothered by that.

What kinds of resources were you hoping to find?  There's all kinds of resources available here in the Community, so changes are fairly good that something might already be available that is of interest to you.  If not, you can always ask a question (as you've done here), and people will respond to help out.

Again, I hope these resources will be of help.  Keep the questions coming.  Thanks Leslie...

[Shar]

Hi Leslie Irvine,

Thank-you for providing a screenshot! There are a few things that I notice from your screenshot. First, you are using Microsoft Edge. Although Canvas is supported in Edge, you will have a better experience in Chrome or Firefox.

Which browsers does Canvas support? 

Next, the colors and general behavior of your Canvas is controlled by the local Canvas admin at your school. I presume that black and gold are school colors and that's the theme applied to the CU Canvas. There are other things under the hood that the Canvas admin can decide that affect the look and feel of Canvas that usually work to provide a consistent experience from course-to-course.

Finally, your course has the Syllabus page set as the home page (in the screen shot). You can choose a different home page to make it more inviting and include pictures and more navigation rather than the syllabus list. There's some talk of students missing portions of their course because they are only looking at the syllabus and the list of assignments and thinking that's the course. See More reasons #5

Here are some resources about creating an inviting homepage. You or your local instructional designer can work together to create something that is more engaging for your course.

Creating an inviting course home page 

Home Sweet Homepages without Tables 

Creating a "button" oriented syllabus page 

Improving Course Navigation Experience for Students 

Hope these resources help, but definitely reach out to your program administrator to see if there are Instructional designers who can help you achieve the look and feel you want in your course.
Cheers - Shar

[Nicolai]

My canvas is so ugly.