Nussbaum On Design

Bruce Nussbaum:

If you are in the myth-making business, you don’t need design. You need a great ad agency. But if you are in the authenticity and integrity business then you have to think design.

[snip]

There are two great barriers to innovation and design in the world today. Ignorant CEOs and ignorant designers. Both groups are well-intentioned and well-dressed—in their own ways—but both can be pretty dangerous characters.

Take the time to read his entire speech. Then buy this book. Understanding the "principle of affordance" alone is worth the price.

THIS IS ESSENTIAL READING (PDF file format), although I (knowingly) break several of the rules in this space.

If I didn't, the post would look like this ...

This is essential reading (PDF file format), although I (knowingly) break several of the rules in this space.

Preferences?

AN EXTRAORDINARY personal web page. Extraordinary.

AN INTERESTING THREAD at tufte.com about the use of pie charts in information design. Scroll to the bottom for a surprise (and for one of the best charts I've seen in some time).

ALL 1,943 CORNELL FACULTY were asked to respond to the following question: Of the many charts (graph, map, diagram, table and ‘other’) you have seen in your life, which has been the most important, remarkable, meaningful or valuable? See the results here. (Via VI)

Everything You Need To Know About Design ...

... is here. Thanks to JG for the link.

InfoAesthetics

A WONDERFUL BLOG: information aesthetics. I also like his use of sparklines to represent the site's web statistics.

Tags: information aesthetics, sparklines

Lawrence Lessig's Presentation on Google Book Search

STANFORD PROFESSOR LAWRENCE LESSIG IS LEGENDARY for his presentation style (as well as his legal mind). Lessig's style is both minimalist and cinematic, and several folks have written profiles to date [1].

One thing that's been nice is Lessig's willingness to post his presentations online (along with audio of his comments), and he's done so again: He's posted has latest review of the legal issues associated with Google's book search. It's a great example of a dynamic, speaker-augmenting use of presentation software And while it's a style that's likely too cinematic for most internal corporate presentations (especially if you're a junior presenting to senior management), it should, at the very least, act as inspiration (and if you're an outsider who's been brought in to speak, I suggest stealing shamelessly from the "Lessig style"). (Via Joho)

See Garr Reynolds, Sean Kelly, David Hornik, and others.

 

Technorati Tags: lawrence lessig, presentations, presentation style

* Scheduled post, written earlier.
 

Our Standard PowerPoint Layout

A COLLEAGUE AND I have spent the past few days helping a number of client teams prep for a significant presentation to senior management. We do this from time to time, and when we do our focus is typically on message strategy and credibility. That said, presentation design is a heuristic for both, and we inevitably end up teaching the basics of good v. bad slide design at the same time.

At the firm we take an approach to slide design that is different from traditional corporate practice. Our basic philosophy:

• You are the message: A person can communicate with greater persuasive power than any slide presentation.
• Exception: Pictures that say a thousand words. But they REALLY have to say a thousand words. They should also be high-resolution images, or don't use them. Garr Reynolds has more to say about this, and he's right.
• Your slides should "do no harm": They should never compete with the speaker, and only augment the speaker's point. As a result they should be lean on text and lean on animation (there's only one slide animation that has any taste, and it's the slow fade). Otherwise the audience is paying attention to the slide and not to you.
• Ensure everything is essential: Keep the ink:data ratio as close to 1:1 as possible. This means killing chartjunk and following sound principles of chart and table design. It also means killing all that branding and those logos -- the audience knows who you are.

As we explain this philosophy we typically point people to the research of Edward Tufte, which I'll do now. There's also much more in the CommLog archives if you search for "PowerPoint."

Yesterday we spent a lot of time coaching around the physical design of slides so they best reflect our approach. As we did I referred to the "CRA presentation style" more than once, and thought it might be useful to describe the physical setup of our standard PowerPoint template here as an example.

Our PowerPoint template comes in two flavors: White background and dark background. Here's a shot of each. We use the dark background in dark rooms, and the white background in light rooms (you may click any of these images for a larger view).

We've honored the Golden Ratio by matching the proportions of the slide itself to that of the Golden Rectangle (1:1.618). In our case the slides are set to be 10" wide and 6.18" high. This "letterbox" look is more interesting, permits more interesting layouts, and looks great when you project.

We use Gill Sans font, our preferred font for headings in documents across the firm (we use Garamond for text). Gill Sans is easy on the eyes, has an interesting feel to it, and holds up well regardless of text size.

When we use images (which we prefer to do over text ... they help convey an emotional dimension) they're always high resolution, and often full screen.

When laying out images and text, we turn on PowerPoint's "guide" function and set our guides so they reflect the "rule of thirds" and make layout choices based on the guides and their four points of intersection (for more on this go here).

When we DO use bullets, they're as simple as possible ...

So that's our template setup. We think it helps our on-screen stuff be more effective, which is our goal. We've also been inspired by the good taste of Garr Reynolds; go see his stuff. Hope the above is of use.

Technorati Tags: powerpoint, presentations, garr reynolds, information design   

* Cross-posted at CommLog.

Effective Chart Design

ALSO WORTH READING: These primers on what makes for good and bad chart design (and tables, too). (Via PZ)

Technorati Tags: chart design, table design, information design

* Scheduled post, written earlier.
 

Steve Jobs And The Ink To Data Ratio

THIS AFTERNOON I was describing "ink-to-data ratio" to some clients: the ratio of ink on the page / screen to the amount of meaningful information on the page / screen when conveying information visually. You want the ratio to be as close to 1:1 as possible, with every dot of ink / pixel helping to convey some relevant information to the reader / audience.

An example I often use when describing the ITD ratio is the default three-dimension bar charts presentation software (PowerPoint being the greatest offender) often creates -- in a simple graph showing a trend or comparisons along the x axis the depth of the bar conveys no meaningful information, but it does add ink (increasing the ratio of ink to data).

So I get online tonight and -- lo and behold -- Garr Reynolds has written a post about this very topic, but using Steve Job's recent MacWorld keynote as a case study. Many fine and illuminating illustrations, and as usual with Garr, an intelligent point of view. I won't bother presenting the matter further -- go read Garr's take.

Update: What do you know -- Garr points to a full post on the ink-to-data ratio here at MasterViews International.

Technorati Tags: presentation zen, garr reynolds, ink to data ratio, presentations, steve jobs, stevenote 

Tufte

HAVE I POSTED ABOUT THIS BEFORE? Perhaps, but if you're not keeping up with the discussion threads at Edward Tufte's Ask E. T. Forum, you're missing some of the smartest discussion about information design ... and sometimes science, philosophy, art, metaphysics ... out there. Best way to keep current with the forums: subscribe with an RSS feed reader (I use Bloglines) and it will surface what's new.

* Scheduled post, written earlier.

Online Typography

HERE'S A GREAT RESOURCE for anyone putting anything on the Web: The Elements of Typographic Style Applied to the Web. Not complete yet, but on its way. One rule that separates typographic rookies from the pros (web or print): Use only one space between sentences. It's one of the first typographic rules we have to teach people new to the firm to unlearn.

* This is a scheduled post, written earlier.

Tufte And Advocacy

GARR REYNOLDS COMMENTS on Brent Edwards' comments (Brent has a nice blog -- new to me -- BTW) on Edward Tufte's view of advocacy in presentations. Read both; Garr also makes a nice link to Aristotle (50 extra points to Garr for invoking basic rhetorical theory).

In his post Garr asked for comments. Rather than posting a lengthy comment there, I'll post my thoughts here. I attended Tufte's seminar earlier this year, and posted my notes here should you wish to see them (they're in both a browseable MindMap and text format). My take on the issue Brent raises:

• As members of an audience, Tufte was encouraging us to appreciate that anyone presenting information has an agenda (noble or not), and as such, we should listen with a critical ear. His exact line: "As a consumer you need to ask: Am I seeing findings that come from evidence, or from evidence selection?" Other advice: It's up to the audience to figure out what was left out of a presentation, as it's impossible to present everything one could.
• As presenters, Tufte was encouraging us to do our best to present information in such a way that the audience can glean the "truth" you're trying to present. The biggest threat here is selection bias, or in Tufte's words, "cherry picking": "The single biggest threat to learning the truth from a presentation is evidence selection ... As a presenter, you need to establish that you're not a cherry picker."

To me, Tufte's concern was more that we establish our credibility such that the audience can listen with a critical but open ear, rather than a critical but skeptical ear. His position was (my words): don't pitch, tell. His words: "Pitching out corrupts within." I don't think his concern is about advocacy as with advocacy without warrants. For Tufte, it's about building a case.

Regarding Brent's comments on sparklines: they're great, and candy for the data-design-focused among us. I've posted about them before here and here.

Regarding Garr's thoughts on "balance" of ethos, pathos, and logos: Couldn't agree more. At the firm we counsel clients to overtly incorporate this balance into not just presentation planning, but all communication planning, using a simple schema -- begin all communication planning by asking:

• What do I want them to believe, know, do, and feel?
• How do I want to be seen?
• How should I communicate given the relationship I would like to build?

This, generally, gets at logos (believe, know, do), pathos (feel), and ethos (seen, relationship). Some simple examples over at CommLog (poorly formatted due to a recent import process) are here and here.

Frankly, it's wonderful to see sophisticated, thoughtful commentary like Garr's and Brent's on the topic of business discourse. I've always held that the golden age of internal communication is ahead of us; these are signs of progress.

Presentation Zen

I JUST FOUND PRESENTATION ZEN by Gar Reynolds. Be certain to read his account of Steve Jobs' latest One More Thing presentation.

More Sparklines

IN CONTINUING TO PLAY with Bissant's Office sparkline plugin I've found the "winner/loser" sparkline. It's a better way of representing the won/loss sparklines I posted here (better because the sparklines are more condensed and in black and white -- there's no need to differentiate between wins and losses with color as direction makes this distinction already).

The comparisons (before / after):

* * * * *

As an in-line graphic, I can talk about how the Phillies' September performance has hurt their chances, especially when compared to the Astros .

* * * * *

As an in-line graphic, I can talk about how the Phillies' September performance has hurt their chances, especially when compared to the Astros .   

* * * * *

(-) Astros

(1) Phillies

(4) Marlins

* * * * *

(-) Astros

(1) Phillies

(4) Marlins

I prefer the b&w ...

More On Tufte

I'VE POSTED MY TUFTE NOTES below as a MindMap using the MindManager browser viewer plugin. ( If you prefer to see it full screen, click here.) Note that the hyperlinks (the little IE "e"s in the map) and the notes (the little notes icons) all work; click the hyperlinks and go to the link, hover over the notes and read the notes. To expand a topic click the little "+" next to it's bubble, and click the little "-" to shrink a topic. You can move around the map with a right-click and drag of your mouse.

 

If you're not using Internet Explorer, you won't see anything. If that's the case, you may click here for a graphic of the map (which you can't browse interactively, but which you can print - note that it's a 1.5 meg file).

For the textually inclined, I've posted them in outline form in the extended entry (via the MindManager "export to Word" function -- I didn't clean 'em up, so take em' as you find 'em). It was a great session; recommended.