I have always loved Tufte’s work on visualisation and it informs a lot of the design of Sensemaker™. My thanks to John Maloney on the Value Networks list serve for making me aware of his wicked attack on Powerpoint.
That web site also contains the news that Tufte has written a monograph The Cognitive Style of Powerpoint.
The counter to this which just came in the same list serve argues that because we have bad speakers powerpoint is a good idea. There is a simple solution to that - only use good speakers and also train people to present. When I was in school from the age of 11 we did several things that improved this:
Firstly we debated every week - and we were not told the motion or which side we were on until we stood up to speak
Secondly we had to learn poems by heart
Thirdly we had to perform or at least read through a play or two every year
Some of those disciplines seem to have left education of recent years - and while I realise I am now becoming old and romanticising the past, but I think we have lost something.
Incidentally you will see I have now got the hand of references. At one point it looked like I might have to give up using Safari and break my only Apple products rule (there is nothing like a recent convert for fanaticism) but thanks to our outstanding web master I have now been taught basic XML so the day has been saved. Apologies for messing around with this entry this morning, but I have been getting the syntax right!
Comments (3)
Here is Tufte's own forum: http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a?topic_id=1 . The RSS feed is somewhat lean, though - it's only the headers, not the content: http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/asket.xml
One aspect often missed when dismissing Slideware: the wasted time and effort to create, modify, review, and finalize the slidedeck - the effort increases exponentialy with the number of stakeholders.
Tip: In Powerpoint, go to File > Properties > Statistics > Total Editing Time. And then imagine what else could have been done in/with/during that time.
Posted by christianhauck | August 1, 2006 8:18 AM
Posted on August 1, 2006 08:18
John copied me on a on line post that expands his attack on powerpoint with an interesting metaphor to chainsaws. I reproduce it below with his permission, but with the name of the person he sent it to removed
"Powerpoint is like any tool."
That is too easy a way out. There are hundreds/thousands of legal cases where tools (chainsaws, lawnmowers, automobiles) have been used and resulted in harm or worse, and the manufacturers have been held directly responsible (convicted).
Lawnmower safety has improved immensely over the years, but extremities and limbs are still being lost. After hurricanes, chainsaws and ladders (tools) hurt and kill far more people than the storm itself.
No, a shiny new chainsaw on the shelf Home Depot won't hurt anybody. Either will the PowerPoint CD if it is left in its shrink-wrapped jewel case.
It is just unfair to give our tools a free pass. "We shape our tools, and then in turn our tools shape us." - McLuhan
Ironically, among the BEST PowerPoint-free presentations recently was from an executive director from of all places... Microsoft Research. He made a point of saying that he abandoned PPT for this talk (we gently requested it.) He actually talked with us (gasp!) and led conversation. He handed out an attractive one-page narrative summary of his appearance with contact information and his main points. Brilliant! He was an outstanding representative of Microsoft Research and your firm.
It is great that you find outlining feature of PP useful. Probably most all of us do. That is not the question. Rather, for the *audience* are you advancing the quality, persuasiveness, effectiveness of the collaboration and conversation? Are you building relationships? Are you appealing to emotion?
Like hammers, PowerPoint is an popular and reliable product that can be used effectively if precaution is taken and if you use the right tool for the right job i.e., are we allowing our audience to discover a shared outcome and new understanding, or are we just force-feeding a convenient outline?
BTW, Slidy is an advancement, since it may relieve the most ridiculous, annoying and insipid audience question of all time, "Can we get a copy of your slides?"
Finally, yes, it is accepted that it is VERY dangerous to go after the most sacred of sacred cows like PowerPoint. It is done entirely at the behest of the audience, the conversation and the outcomes. These key constituencies have somehow been lost in the discourse because of an overbearing tool focus.
Posted by Dave Snowden | August 4, 2006 11:43 PM
Posted on August 4, 2006 23:43
But why are you some 5 years out of date. See the work of Compudigm based on Tufte and data visulaisation. makes cognos, crytal reports etc seem quite stone aged.
Posted by geof elliott | August 8, 2006 7:13 AM
Posted on August 8, 2006 07:13