Month: August 2019

Quick Tips To Help You Think More Like A Designer

With my previous employer, preparing for instructor led events felt like it was never ending- even though we only hosted training on a quarterly basis.  With each training session, I looked at a lot of PPTs prepared by our subject matter experts.  Professionally speaking, I adore these people.  They’re knowledgeable, passionate, and ready to share their vast amounts of information and ideas.  Unfortunately, they are not designers, and it is hard to think of PowerPoint as a visual media when you haven’t been trained to do so.  Sometimes this shows in their PPT work.

I’d like to tell you about something unusual that happened as we prepared for a session earlier this year. A speaker who had been added to the agenda contacted me with his drafted presentation.  He’s one of those above mentioned SMEs who could go for days and days and has forgotten more about the industry (transportation) than I’ll ever know!   He stated he’s not a strong PPT user, and he asked for ideas to improve his design.

This got me to thinking- what simple tips could I pass on should a similar situation occur?  Here are 5 quick reminders to help you get started with more solid design.

1)  THINK BEFORE YOU START:

Before you even open PowerPoint, think about the engaging and well-designed presentations you have witnessed.  And don’t limit your thinking to presentations- consider billboards and magazine advertisements, flyers, movie or concert posters, and other visual media that have captured your attention lately.  What can you do to make your own presentation look that nice or flow that well?  Think about the themes and tone and appropriate colors, backgrounds, fonts, and images related to that tone.

A great practice is to “mind map”- brainstorm and then visually organize your ideas and thoughts on the topic before you begin your true design work.  (You can simply use “mind map” as your search term to learn more or to find templates to help with this process.)

After your mind map sessions are completed, create a storyboard.  This doesn’t have to be complicated or artistic.  It is merely a rough draft or rough sketch of how you want each slide to look and flow.  Sometimes, I truly draw a slide complete with sketched images and graphics.  Other times, my storyboard may only be a few sentences about the graphics, text, and ideas I want to include on each slide.

2)  CONSIDER YOUR SCREEN RATIO:

I feel like I talk about this a lot, so please bear with me as I repeat it (again).  Most modern technology uses a wide screen format.  Think about tilting your phone or tablet into landscape mode when you stream a video.  If you’re watching a modern production, it will fill the screen.  If you’re watching an older video you’ll see two dark bands at each side of the screen to fill the margin. 

Similarly, if you use the inappropriate screen ratio with your presentation, the computer/device will fill the margins with a dark color.  It is not the most visually pleasing, and it is wasting space you could be using for your design and content!

To format your PowerPoint to a widescreen format, visit the DESIGN tab and click PAGE SETUP.  A dialog box will appear, and in the drop down labeled SLIDES SIZED FOR select 16:9

3)  REDUCE TEXT, REDUCE TEXT, AND THEN REDUCE TEXT SOME MORE:

I get it.  You have a lot to say, and it is an important topic.  But it is important to remember your audience will listen to you or read the slide; they cannot do both.  (This isn’t an insult to their intelligence; it is simply how science has proven the human brain to work.)

 It is a common mantra among skilled presenters and designers, and I wish I knew who thought and said it first:  “Your slide is complete when there is nothing else to remove!”

Opinions varying, but I prefer to limit slides to 20 words or less.  It can sometimes be difficult for SMEs who like to copy and paste from their policies, procedures, or manuals and guidebooks (yes, that happens) to grasp this design principle.  One solution is to create more slides with less text.  Another option is to create keyword only slides and provide great handouts for note-taking.

Instead of using statistics in a text format, add images and graphs.  One of my favorite solutions to a statistic or number is demonstrated here, using an icon or symbol to represent a figure.  This is example shows a money icon to represent a revenue figures.

If you’re insistent on text heavy slides, there are ways to still have a creative and engaging presentation.  (We talked about that in an earlier post.)

4)  HIGH QUALITY IMAGES

Some things from the 1990s are cool again.  (Or maybe the grunge look and sound never really went away.)  Some things from the 1990s, like clipart, should not be resurrected. 

You can create a big impact by choosing high quality IMAGES and PICTURES.  Invest in a subscription to a stock art sight.  Use public domain images.  If there is a hobbyist photographer on staff, ask him or her to help you capture some solid pictures.

5)  AVOID CHEESY ANIMATIONS AND NOISES

Well-crafted animations and transitions take time to master.  Similar to clipart, animations, transitions, noises, and other effects can easily fall flat, feel dated, or feel forced.   Don’t give up on developing this skill, but think carefully about what you choose to publish or present.  Also, if you’re limiting your content as mentioned above in point 3 (reduce text!) you shouldn’t need too many animations since there will be a limited about of information on your screen already.

A Change Will Do You Good

Sheryl Crow once offered that advice, although I am rather certain she wasn’t offering career guidance. Regardless, a change has done me good!

This week, I joined a fast-growing company that specializes in Human Resources and compliance training productions. There are a lot of positives that come with this change:

  • The position is 100% remote.
    It wasn’t an issue to commute to the Charlotte area monthly with my previous employer, but that role did limit me to living in the Carolinas. Now, if my husband’s career opportunities take us to another state or location (or if we simply want to move), I won’t have to change employers.

  • I’m part of a training team.
    Regardless of what you do, it can be difficult to be a team of one. Previously, anything I wanted to learn in Articulate or regarding training and instructional design, I had to learn on my own. Budgets for conferences and continuing education were limited.

    Now, I’m a part of a content design team, and I am already learning from my new colleagues. Also, it is neat to see persons specializing in one content production area (design, scripts and writing, video production, technology support), and I look forward to learning more about each piece of this puzzle from my new co-workers.

  • I’ll get to continue balancing training design and HR knowledge.
    I think this is a task where I can excel. Further, I worked too hard to earn my Human Resources certifications to give them up. I’m excited to have found a career where I can continue pursuing HR knowledge while also becoming a more effective and efficient training designer.

  • The company is fast-growing.
    During my own research, the interview phase, and the on-boarding process it has been near unbelievable to see their growth data over the last few years. It is evidence of that the training market is growing and that there is demand for solid, well-produced training tools. Equally as important, that growth is a big clue that my new employer is doing it right!

    While I was initially hesitant to join a company that is still relatively early in its life-cycle, I’ve realized this is the type of opportunity that does not come around often. I’m excited to grow and develop with the company.

  • The culture appears to be amazing.
    Yesterday, another designer mentioned how it is imperative to produce training that suits learners across the disability spectrum; I was proud to hear that is a priority. My own supervisor has been nothing but supportive in responding to my questions and concerns of the last few weeks. Other staff members have provided reassurances, including two other designers who took time to schedule a phone call to tell me about their roles, average work days, frustrations, and triumphs as I progressed through the interview process. The Chief Learning Officer was quick to praise their “no jerks” culture during our call days after I began the application process.

    Simply stated, their culture has a lot of similarities with that of my beloved former employer.

The last few weeks have included some sleepless nights, worry, and frayed nerves. Change can be hard. More than once I wondered if I was making the correct decision. I have little doubt now, and I am transitioning to a phase of reminding myself to be patient as I learn a new company, their processes, and their expectations. I can be my own worst critic and have to remember I must learn to (figuratively speaking) crawl, walk, and then run forward. One thing is certain, this is positive change and will do me good!