Chart Make-Over Challenge Wrap-Up
A couple weeks ago, I issued a challenge: redesign a chart slide that was of little to no use of any audience member in the back of the room. The chart had too many lines and labels, making it much like a confusing plate of spaghetti. Any attempt to interpret the chart, even when closer to the screen as I was required so much attention that there was no hope in also listening to what the speaker was saying.
Maybe it was summer. Maybe it was the challenge itself. Maybe it was because of some other reason I don’t yet know of, but we’ve had one submission. With that said, I don’t want to take anything away from Edward Kavanagh’s challenge submission. It was a really good one.
The deck he designed clearly works best in the SlideShare environment, but I can see how, depending on the speaker’s style, this could work in a live presentation setting as well. The approach he took clearly solved the problem at hand: convey the message in the complex chart in a clear and easily understandable manner. In the 12 slides that replace the one, he broke down the data in the chart into three easily digestible chunks. He first presents each chunk and follows it all up with the essential question. His answer came in a likewise broken-down manner, allowing the audience to absorb the significance of each statistic. This is all followed-up by a slide that repeats the statistics along with the central message.
The great things about Ed’s slide deck are:
- The slide is legible
- The data is provided in easily digestible chunks
- Charts and tables are designed with a purpose: conveying a clear unambiguous message
- It tells a story
All of these are qualities that the original slide lacked.
I’d like to thank Ed for his great submission for the Chart Make-Over Challenge and everyone else who helped spread the word of the event.