Visual Communications

As you may have gathered from these web pages, I am a big proponent of visual communications. I find that it has become increasingly important as a tool to communicate quickly and effectively. Today, people are so overwhelmed with content, data, and information from smartphones, tablets, laptops, and other devices including our cars, signs, radio and television, etc. that they appreciate anything that allows them grasp a message and understand it. There are a number of statistics but the bottom line is that attention span is measured in seconds.

Visualizations offer value by providing appeal, comprehension, and retention. Appeal gets peoples attention. It engages them. Before they even know what the information is, they are curious. Comprehension is improved by creating relationships between objects that can be quickly grasped and understood. Retention is increased by the process of "connecting the dots" in the visualization. This triggers long-term memory to information the viewer already possesses.

Almost everything I do requires visual communications. It is important in training material. In e-learning content it is essential. Communications and awareness programs are enhanced with visual communications. Visual communications also improves the quality of written reports. Incorporating pertinent charts, diagrams, and graphics adds meaning making the communications more effective. Visual communications is also important in website design. Websites must have good content but the initial visual impact is often what drives the user to spend more time and explore that content.

The cliché is "presentation is everything". I find that to be very, very true.