User friendly presentations hfes guidelines_final_compressed_shorter

User-Friendly PowerPoint
Guidelines
Based on
“Evidence-Based Human Factors
Guidelines for PowerPoint
Presentations” (Durso et al., 2011)

Erik CB Olsen, PhD
User Friendly Presentations
©2012 Erik CB Olsen, PhD

What is


PitchMan What’s in
the box?

Demo
of
Responsibilities


What is

3 uses

Use PowerPoint
• To be
– Clear
– Informative
– Increase impact


PowerPoint Guidelines
1. Font
2. Color
3. Layout
4. Comprehension
5. Charts, Graphs, & Tables


Font
• Style
• Size
• Case
• Spacing

• with “little feet” and is better for long lines of
text to help readers follow along

Font Style
• Use Tahoma
– Short bulleted text
– Sans serif
– Highly legible
• Arial is good
• So is Verdana

• Microsoft Sans Sarif is ok too

• After a while it is hard to tell the difference! (this is Tahoma
again)

• After a while it is hard to tell the difference! (this is Tahoma again)
vs.
• Times New Roman
– Times New Roman is a serif font with “little feet” and is better for long lines of text to help readers follow along

Font Style
• Use Tahoma vs. Times New Roman
– Short bulleted text • Times New Roman is a serif font
– Sans serif with “little feet” and is better for long
– Highly legible lines of text to help readers follow
• Arial is good along

• So is Verdana
• Microsoft Sans Sarif is ok too

• After a while it is hard to tell the difference! (this is Tahoma
again)
vs.
• Times New Roman
– Times New Roman is a serif font with “little feet” and is better for long lines of text to help
readers follow along

Font Size
• This is Tahoma 32 point font
– At least 22 point for bullets
– 16 point for figure legends and axes

44 point
32 point
28 point
24 point
22 point
20 point
18 point
16 point
Figure of Increasing Font Sizes from 16 to 32 Point Font (labeled using 16 point)

PitchMan
I like 44!

Demo
of
Responsibilities


Font Case
• Use sentence case for your bullets
– Make initial letter uppercase
– Aids in directing attention


Font Spacing & Embellishments
• This is plain old Tahoma
– Impact is harder to read
– KaiTi spreads letters too far


Font Spacing & Embellishments
• This is plain old Tahoma
– Impact is harder to read too
– KaiTi spreads letters too far

• Restrict italics for emphases
or
• Use bold for emphasis
• Avoid animations
– or flashing text


Color
• High-contrast text-to-background
combinations
– Dark text on a light background
– Black on white


This is Tahoma 32 Point Font

• This is Tahoma 28
– This is Tahoma 24
• Background is white
– White 15% darker
• Text is black


Color
combinations
– Black on white

White on Black Black on White Black on Grey


This is Tahoma 32 Point Font

• This is Tahoma 28
– This is Tahoma 24
• Background is light grey
– White 15% darker
• Text is black


Color
combinations
– Black on white
• Consider split complementary colors

Yellow on Blue Blue on Yellow


This is Arial 32 Point Font

• This is Arial 28
– This is Arial 24
• Background is pale yellowish orange
– Choose 75% transparency or
– a paler shade
• Text is blue 25% darker


Color
combinations
– Black on white
• Consider split complementary colors
• Avoid red-green contrasts

Green on Red Red on Green


This is Arial 32 Point
YUK!
• This is Arial 28
– This is Arial 24
• Background is red
• Text is green
Demo
of
Responsibilities


Guidelines
• Layout
– Be consistent
– Leave a margin around the slide


Comprehension

"As a rule, begin each paragraph
with a topic sentence . . . "

William Strunk, 1918
- The Elements of Style


Comprehension
So . . .

...

Comprehension
for . . .

!!!

Comprehension
“Use bullets (not multiline paragraphs). For a
variety of reasons, both ergonomic and
rhetorical, the slide should be a collection of
short bullets that assist you in making the
presentation. This recommendation will also
help you avoid the urge to read the slides as
your presentation.”
Durso et al. (July, 2011)
- Ergonomics in Design, p. 6

Comprehension
• Use bullets
• Affirmative
• Active voice
• 4 ± 1 bullets per slide
• Avoid distractions


Comprehension
• Use bullets
• Affirmative
• Active voice
• 4 ± 1 bullets per slide
• Avoid distractions
– Photos or images ok


Charts, Graphs, & Tables
Avoid 3D!
5

4

3

2 Series 1
Series 2
1
0 Series 2

Category 1 Series 1
Category 2
Category 3
Category 4


5
This is easier to understand
Series 1 Series 2

4

3

2

1

0
Category 1 Category 2 Category 3 Category 4


Introduce 1 element at a time!
5
Series 1

4

3

2

1

0


Then bring in Series 2 and explain it!
5
Series 1 Series 2

4

3

2

1

0


PitchMan But wait,
there’s more!

Demo
of
Responsibilities


Purpose: To teach
1. Pitches

2. PowerPoint guidelines


Purpose: To teach
1. Pitches

2. PowerPoint guidelines

3. Makeovers!


User friendly presentations hfes guidelines_final_compressed_shorter

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (7)

Similar to User friendly presentations hfes guidelines_final_compressed_shorter

Similar to User friendly presentations hfes guidelines_final_compressed_shorter (20)

More from Erik Olsen

More from Erik Olsen (7)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

User friendly presentations hfes guidelines_final_compressed_shorter