some slides that need improvement a series of exercises ©1998 by gilberto berríos

Some slides that need improvement

A series of exercises

©1998 by Gilberto Berríos

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We will do some exercises:

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1stQtr

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EastWestNorth

• You will be shown a number of slides

• You will have to say what’s wrong with each of them

• You will suggest ways to improve them

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Exercise 1Conciseness and relevance

Don’t you think there is something wrong

with the previous slide?—Let’s see it again.

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What’s wrong?

• Items are wordy

• Graph is unrelated

• Sound effect is confusing

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Any suggestions?

• Use keywords in items

• Use a relevant illustration

• Eliminate sound effect (or use adequate sound)

Let’s see the improved version.

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•Examine the slides

•Say what’s wrong with them

•Suggest ways to improve them

We will do some exercises:

This is a wordy slide that you will have to

improve. You see, there’s too much text

in it, plus it’s in cursive style…

Now, that’s much better!

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•Examine the slides

•Say what’s wrong

•Suggest improvements

We will do some exercises:

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•Examine the slides

•Say what’s wrong

•Suggest improvements

We will do some exercises:

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Exercise 2Text and color schemes

What do you think is wrongwith the following slide?

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Risk Management System

CORPORATE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

Can you read this text???

Can you read this text???

INVESTMENT AND CREDIT COMMITEE

Can you read this text???

Risk management system

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What’s wrong?

Low contrast color scheme:• Text—pink and yellow

• Background—white

• Object borders—yellow

• Object fill—light gray and shaded blue

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What else is wrong?

Low legibility text:• Cursive• ALL CAPS• ALL CAPS CURSIVE

• (JUST IMAGINE IF YOU HAD TO READ TEXT LIKE THIS)

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Any suggestions?

• Use high contrast color schemes– Dark foreground, light background

– No fancy fills

• Make text legible– Normal print

– Caps or cursive for emphasis

Let’s see the improved version.

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Other suggestions

• Prefer sans serif fonts:–Sans serif, such as Arial– Serif, such as Times

• Use PowerPoint to improve slide format:– color schemes, background, design

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Risk Management SystemRisk management system

Now you can read

this

Now you can read

this

Investment and Credit Committee

Now you can read

this

Corporate Management Committee

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Risk Management SystemRisk management system

Now you can read

this

Now you can read

this

Investment and Credit Committee

Now you can read

this

Corporate Management Committee

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Risk Management SystemRisk management system

Now you can read

this

Now you can read

this

Investment and Credit Committee

Now you can read

this

Corporate Management Committee

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Exercise 3Numbers, tables, graphs

What do you think is wrongwith the following slide?

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Japan-Venezuela Exports Venezuela-Japan Exports

Jan-MarAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSept.Oct.

3,000,000500,000450,000

1,550,500500,000750,000

2,950,0001,350,000

¥ 11,050,500

250,000150,000500,000450,100500,000600,000350,000664,000

¥ 3,464,100

Proportion 319 100

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What’s wrong?

• No title—no focus

• Too many meaningless numbers

• Key information not highlighted:– Column titles

– Column totals

– Main idea

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Any suggestions?

• Add a title

• Downplay meaningless numbers: highlight key information– Text format—size, style, alignment,

font, …

– Color

Let’s see the improved version.

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Japan to Venezuela Venezuela to Japan

Jan-MarAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSept.Oct.

3,000,000500,000450,000

1,550,500500,000750,000

2,950,0001,350,000

¥ 11,050,500

250,000150,000500,000450,100500,000600,000350,000664,000

¥ 3,464,100

Proportion 319 100

Japanese and Venezuelan Exports

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Japan to Venezuela Venezuela to Japan

Jan-MarAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSept.Oct.

3,000,000500,000450,000

1,550,500500,000750,000

2,950,0001,350,000

¥ 11,050,500

250,000150,000500,000450,100500,000600,000350,000664,000

¥ 3,464,100

Proportion 319 100

Japanese and Venezuelan Exports

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Any other suggestions?

• Turn all numbers into a graph– Bar graph, line graph, pie chart

– Any other useful graph

• Add other relevant enhancements……but don’t overdo it.

Let’s see the improved version.

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Japanese and Venezuelan Exports

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500000

1000000

1500000

2000000

2500000

3000000

3500000

Japan-Ven. Ven.-Japan

Jan-March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

Proportion:

319 to 100

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Japanese and Venezuelan Exports

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2000000

4000000

6000000

8000000

10000000

12000000

Japan-Ven. Ven.-Japan

Proportion:

319 to 100

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Japanese and Venezuelan Exports

0 2000000 4000000 6000000 8000000 1000000012000000

Japan-Ven.

Ven.-JapanJan-March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 Million ¥

Ven-Jap

Jap-Ven

Proportion:

319 to 100Proportion:

319 to 100

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Japanese and Venezuelan Exports

Proportion:

319 to 100Proportion:

319 to 10011M ¥

3.5M ¥

Jap-VenVen-Jap

300

2000000

4000000

6000000

8000000

10000000

1200000012

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6

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Japanese and Venezuelan Exports

Proportion

3.19 : 1

Mil

lion

¥

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Japanese and Venezuelan Exports

0

500000

1000000

1500000

2000000

2500000

3000000

3500000 JapanVenezuela

JapanVenezuela

Jan Oct

¥

3 M

0.15 M

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Japanese and Venezuelan Exports

3.19

1

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Exercise 4Dealing with complexity

What do you think is wrongwith the following slide?

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Mikompani’s Production SystemThe company must get profits in order to exist

Central control

Production conglomerates by functional areaProcess X

Sub-process

X Tasks

Function B

FunctionC

Subgroup Z

B-Z Tasks

Function A

Services

Paper documents

Paper documentsMagnetic

products

Magnetic products

Physicalproduct

Physicalproduct

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What’s wrong?

• Too many objects

• Too many arrows

• Some arrows crossing

• And, yes, terrible color-and-effect scheme

complexity amount of elements

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Any suggestions?

• First, show overview– Zoom out: 1 visual

• Then, show details for each area– Zoom in on each: 1 visual each

• Optionally, give a summary – Zoom out again: 1 visual

Let’s see the improved version.

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Mikompani’s Production SystemCentral control

Production conglomeratesby functional area

Process X

Services

Paper documents

Paper documents

Magnetic products

Magnetic products Physical

product

Physicalproduct

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Mikompani’s Production SystemCentral control

Production conglomeratesby functional area

Process X

Services

Paper documents

Magnetic products

Physicalproduct

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Mikompani’s Production System

Central control

Process XServices

Magnetic products

Sub-process

X TasksFunction

A

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Mikompani’s Production System

Central control

Process XServices

Magnetic products

Sub-process

X TasksFunction

A

The end