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Listera | 1 Jun 2005 01:00
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Re: [Sigia-l] merits of bullets (was Smackdown: Edward Tufte vs. Don Norman)

Doug Murray:

> However, I think it is a stretch to say that if I have bullets I necessarily
> have gone through the mental effort of distillation.

And it's quite easy to find out if you did...in just a few bullets. :-)

As I keep saying, it's for the CEO to determine if you did a good job of
distilling, but one thing is for sure, by selecting a format that demands
it, you have already made an unavoidable declaration in that direction. It's
easier to obfuscate matters, lose the message, display lack of forethought,
etc in a 100-page report than in a few bullets: there's nowhere to hide!

Ziya
Nullius in Verba 

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Listera | 1 Jun 2005 01:29
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Re: Re[2]: [Sigia-l] merits of bullets (was Smackdown: Edward Tufte vs. DonNorman)

Lada Gorlenko:

> Distillation and layers are not exclusive to text, the same
> principle applies to graphics and other media.

You bet.

I'm hoping that everyone's mindful of the fact that PowerPoint, bullets,
etc. are in fact metaphors for the very notion of distillation, of
progressive disclosure.

(On a sizeable project, I make at least two presentations every week...with
PowerPoint. Better than 75% of the contents of those presentations are
pictorial/graphical in nature, mostly one picture per slide. I use very few
words.)

I should point to some of the wonderful examples Gladwell gives in "blink"
where, say, researchers can reach the same conclusion by parsing a 20-second
video sample ('content' removed) as they can the 20-minute full version, but
then I'd have to disclose my secret kickback arrangement with Malcolm's
publisher. :-)

Ziya
Nullius in Verba 

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Thomas Quine | 1 Jun 2005 01:54
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[Sigia-l] Concept maps

Has anyone used concept maps as a tool for organizing information? Do
they work well in your experience?

Here's a recent article:

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,67685,00.html?tw=rss.TOP  

Here's an example:

http://cmap.ihmc.us/ 

Here's a bit of an explanation:

http://cmc.ihmc.us/papers/cmc2004-283.pdf  

Thanks!

- Thom

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Skot Nelson | 1 Jun 2005 02:00

Re: [Sigia-l] merits of bullets (was Smackdown: Edward Tufte vs. Don Norman)

>> Distillation is always harder, which PowerPoint forces one to  
>> engage in
>> because of the format constraints. You can't avoid it. Hence the  
>> *implicit*
>> necessity to think through the issues.
>
> Distillation is hard... and important.

if distillation is SO important, why is this one of the longest  
threads I've ever read on this list?
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Boniface Lau | 1 Jun 2005 02:32
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RE: [Sigia-l] Smackdown: Edward Tufte vs. Don Norman


> From: Karl Fast
> 
> In my example, which has stirred the debate, the CEO asked for a
> document outlining the project. I was to send him the document and
> he would respond with questions.

Outline is for highlighting key points. When the CEO asked for an
outline, he expected key points to be laying out as bare bones, one
after another.

> 
> So I took our work and distilled it down to ten pages with lots of
> diagrams and whitespace. It would have been no more than 1500 words.
> It was carefully formatted to be readable. Key topics were
> highlighted in bold so it could be skimmed. There was a brief,
> half-page overview. Of course it could have been shorter, but that
> is not the point.

A diagram-filled abstract is not an outline. It is the whole animal,
albeit a miniature one, but not the bare bones expected from an
outline.

> 
> The point is that he didn't want a written document. And he didn't
> want a presentation either. He just wanted a set of bullet points.

That is a reasonable expectation. After all, he was asking for an
outline.
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Listera | 1 Jun 2005 03:17
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Re: [Sigia-l] merits of bullets (was Smackdown: Edward Tufte vs. Don Norman)

Skot Nelson:

> if distillation is SO important, why is this one of the longest
> threads I've ever read on this list?

Since you're not the CEO, we're not obligated to give you the short version?
:-)

Ziya
Nullius in Verba 

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Livia Labate | 1 Jun 2005 03:31
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Re: [Sigia-l] Concept maps

Concept maps, yes, concept map software tools, no.

I use concept maps extensively. They allow for agile work and 
exploration of ideas, specialy when you are dealing with a lot of 
relational information. It is a helpful method to bring order to what 
can otherwise be a messy idea-generation/brainstorming process.

The tool, however, is post-its up on a white board. Concepts are 
connected using multi-colored markers. It's extensible, portable, allows 
multiple users at the same time, has more editing capabilities than any 
software and I can visualize the entire concept at a glance. My 
favourite thing though, is that when it's time to move on to the next 
steps of the process, the whole resulting concept map can be stored in a 
simple photograph.

All the software tools I have experiemented with are pretty horrible.

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Livia Labate | 1 Jun 2005 03:39
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Re: [Sigia-l] merits of bullets (was Smackdown: Edward Tufte vs. DonNorman)

How appropriate.

Nielsen on reporting quick usability testing results:
: Some organizations thrive on formal presentations and slide-deck
: circulation. In my view, this is a poor method for documenting
: usability findings. Bullet points don't capture the subtleties of
: user behavior, and it's almost impossible to interpret a slide
: presentation even a few months after it was created.
: [http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20050425.html]

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Livia Labate | 1 Jun 2005 03:45
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Re: [Sigia-l] merits of bullets (was Smackdown: Edward Tufte vs. DonNorman)

> I should point to some of the wonderful examples Gladwell gives in "blink"
> where, say, researchers can reach the same conclusion by parsing a 20-second
> video sample ('content' removed) as they can the 20-minute full version, but
> then I'd have to disclose my secret kickback arrangement with Malcolm's
> publisher. :-)

And the point of that chapter being that they have 20 years of 
accumulated knowledge analyzing the 20 minute full-version so they can 
infer on the 20-second video samples with amazing precision.

That is not the case of a bullet-point presentation introducing a new 
concept/idea, like Karl's CEO for example.
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Anne Miller | 1 Jun 2005 04:09
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RE: [Sigia-l] Concept maps

I've used Leximancer  http://www.leximancer.com/ to analyse and group the
content of interview transcripts. Others have used it to organise conceptual
structures in government documents.

Dr Anne Miller
Group Leader
Patient Safety Research Group
Key Centre for Human Factors
University of Queensland
Ph: 61 7 3365  4543
Email: amiller <at> humanfactors.uq.edu.au

-----Original Message-----
From: sigia-l-bounces <at> asis.org [mailto:sigia-l-bounces <at> asis.org] On Behalf
Of Thomas Quine
Sent: Wednesday, 1 June 2005 9:55 AM
To: sigia-l <at> asis.org
Subject: [Sigia-l] Concept maps

Has anyone used concept maps as a tool for organizing information? Do
they work well in your experience?

Here's a recent article:

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,67685,00.html?tw=rss.TOP  

Here's an example:

http://cmap.ihmc.us/
(Continue reading)

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Gmane