I've been here (in the hotel for the conference) about 15 minutes and I have already concluded that this is going to be one snotty conference.
1) The hotel made me beg for wireless internet access
2) They clearly aren't use to people with laptops and totally made this big scene about taping down my power cord (OK maybe this isn't a sign of snotty, but it was annoying nonetheless. I can't imagine what SXSW would have been like if they insisted on taping down every power supply! UPDATE: OK I now know why they wanted to tape it down: apparently people at this seminar are incapable of looking where they are walking because like 9 have tripped over it in the last 15 minutes! So props to the conference people for knowing better but bah on the people who are incapable of looking where they are going! @#$@#%^@)
3) There's an autograph session with the presenter. An autograph session? Does the man think he's bloody Ghandi or something?
Plus they assigned me bloody homework the moment I walked in the door. I have one hour to read 3 chapters in his books....yeah, not likely. Even if I was inclined to read them it is too early in the morning and I know myself well enough to know that I will not retain any of it. So I choose to blog instead :-)
As an aside, I just had a total "Biggest Loser" experience. Try lugging twenty pounds of luggage through the streets of Boston for 2 miles and then tell me if you aren't motivated to lose some weight to make it easier the next time :-)
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"The approach should be whatever it takes to explain something"
-It might take more than one layer
-Content driven - explanation driven.
-Give specificity to the "verbs" (i.e. linking lines) in organization charts....provide annotation to describe flow and link.
"Detail often clarifies"....can you join me in a collective "duh"? I mean I see what he's saying....but if a roomful of people honestly need to be told that detail clarifies....well lets just say I now understand why people in this conference are incapable of walking LOL
"If your presentation is confusing, don't blame the audience for being stupid - fix your design"
"Designs should be clear, efficient, undecorative, map-like'
Ok, you can tell Tufte has spent too much time in academia because he just complained about deans stealing "nobel faculty" slots away in a discussion of organization charts.
"Every paragraph, table, diagram should provide reasons to believe"
-Provide reasons to trust your credibility
(Personal note: Really cool display in visual information book, pg 90-91)
Content should be rich and complex but the design should be clear and simple: people shouldn't even notice the design.
You're trying to evoke content responses - not design responses.
Flow of information can also be expressed by words - annotation is incredibly effective. The pointer does not have color or a drop shadow - it is simply doing its job. Whenever we make a mark - make it as modest, uncontrasting and minimal as possible while still allowing it to do its job.
Presenting data correctly will bump up efficiency and thus reduce meeting time - rely more on people reading your handouts because they can read faster than you can talk.
Bring an object from the real world and explain it to people to make your points - allows people to learn in context and see original material.
Don't put things in alpha order in tables - put them in substantive order. People are good at sorting through lists and finding their name or things they are looking for.
Gill Sans font is most effective in his opinion.
When you make slides for powerpoint, they are more about powerpoint than the actual subject being presented - all too often it becomes more about the medium than the content.
"Talent imitates....but genius steals" LOL
Must of your presentation is about performance data: Report it by using tables or use a super graphic (graphic for showing material over space)
Look to newspapers for inspiration on how to present data.
[Break]
Expressing more than two dimensions of data:
Thoughtful design can eliminate about half of codes/legends, etc...
Get your viewers out of the decoding business and put the names of the lines ON the lines - they can read your information directly rather than going to look for it.
You're trying to maximize the content reasoning time and minimize the format figuring out time.
"430 years old and the paper can still be lifted....think your website will last that long?" No, but how many more people have access to my website while it is "alive" than a 430 year old book!
Principles of Design:
1) Show comparisons in your data to answer the question "compared to what".
2) Show causality.
3) Show multi-variable data (3 or more dimensions). If the information is complicated, then be sure to express it.
4) Integrate words, numbers, images, charts, maps, etc... SHOW WHATEVER IT TAKES TO EXPLAIN SOMETHING! You should be indifferent to the mode of production. You don't design for a particular mode - you design to explain something! The content dictates the medium.
5) Document everything and tell people about it - credibility. Prove you have it by showing where the information came from. Be skeptical of those who deny their sources - assume they are cherry pickers right from the start.
Principles of design are just like principles of analytical thinking.
6) Serious presentations stand or fall depend on the quality, relevance and integrity of the content.
-The best way to improve your presentation is to get better content.
-Design cannot salvage failed content - if numbers are boring then go get better numbers.
-The best design can do is do no harm to your content. Powerpoint often does harm to the content. Presentation method should enhance!
7) Try to show your information as long as possible, adjacent in space, rather than relying on short term memory.
The single-biggest threat to learning the truth from a presentation is cherry-picking the evidence. People are marketing/pitching their findings. One way to avoid that is to say "here is all my data" or you can document the material and give a link with further information.
How do you detect cherry-picking?
1) They don't document their stuff - they won't give you their full data set that will reveal their manipulation.
2) If the presentation seems to smug - too good to be true - it is probably cherry-picked. We see this a lot with drugs that seem too good to be true but over time, we find out how harmful they are.
[lunch break!]
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