This paper collates some of the experience of managers, tutorsand learners who have used live, audio-visual communication systems fordistance learning. Eight design heuristics are abstracted from thisexperience and used to reason about how digital communications couldmake LIVENET more effective. The heuristics are: (i) encourage other(non-training) uses for the communications network; (ii) encourage theparticipation of otherwise unavailable experts; (iii) exploit visual images,both to communicate information and to support informationcommunicated presented verbally; (iv) avoid technology-induced,inequable opportunity for learning; (v) encourage analogies with face-tofacelearning modes, rather than conventional television and home video;(vi) help users to find out about other participants and what they are ableto see and hear; (vii) actively encourage interaction; and (viii) reassuretutors that the apparent intrusiveness of the technology is just an initialimpression.