Presentation Zen [40]
In the world of design, there is more than one solution to a single problem. You need to explore, but ultimately you need to look for the most appropriate solution for the problem, given the context of your information. Design is about making conscious decisions about inclusion and exclusion.
General Design Principles
In the following sections, I’ll take you through seven interconnected design principles that are fundamental to good slide design. The first two—Signal vs. Noise Ratio and Picture Superiority Effect—are quite broad concepts but with practical applications to slide design. The third—Empty Space—helps us look at slides in a different way and appreciate the power of what is not included to make visual messages stronger. The final four principles are grouped together in what I call “the big four” of basic design principles: Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, and Proximity. Designer and author Robin Williams also applied these four basic principles to the art of document design in her best-selling book The Non-Designer’s Design Book (Peachpit Press). I’ll show you how the principles can be applied to improving slide design.
Signal vs Noise Ratio
The Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) is a principle borrowed from more technical fields such as radio communications and electronic communication in general, but the principle itself is applicable to design and communication problems in virtually any field. For our purposes, the SNR is the ratio of relevant to irrelevant elements or information in a slide or other display. The goal is to have the highest signal-to-noise ratio possible in your slides. People have a hard time coping with excessive cognitive strain. There is simply a limit to a person’s ability to process new information efficiently and effectively. Aiming for a higher SNR is an attempt to make things easier for people. Understanding can be hard enough without the excessive and the nonessential bombardment by our visuals that are supposed to be playing a supportive role.
Ensuring the highest possible signal-to-noise ratio means communicating (designing) clearly with as little degradation to the message as possible. Degradation to the visual message can occur in many ways, such as with the selection of inappropriate charts, using ambiguous labels and icons, or unnecessarily emphasizing items such as lines, shapes, symbols, and logos that do not play a key role in support of the message. In other words, if the item can be removed without compromising the visual message, then strong consideration should be given to minimizing the element or removing it altogether. For example, lines in grids or tables can often be made quite thin, lightened, or even removed. And footers and logos, etc. can usually be removed with good results (assuming your company “allows” you to do so).
In Visual Explanations: Images and Quantities, Evidence and Narrative (Graphics Press), Edward Tufte refers to an important principle in harmony with SNR called “the smallest effective difference.” “Make all visual distinctions as subtle as possible,” says Tufte, “but still clear and effective.” If the message can be designed with fewer elements, then there is no point in using more.
The first slides of each pair on the follow pages are the orginals. The signal-to-noise ratio is improved in the second slides in the pair by removing nonessential elements and minimizing other elements…
Pair 1
Pair 2
Pair 3
But Is the Nonessential Always “Noise”?
It is generally true that unnecessary elements decrease the design’s efficiency and increase the possibility of unintended consequences. But does this mean that we must be uncompromising and remove everything