Training With Infographics

CREATING INFOGRAPHICS FOR YOUR TRAINING

MAKING THE COMPLEX SIMPLE
What's standing between your Trainees and your training objectives? Oftentimes it's complexity. Whether it's the volume of information or a SME who thinks everything is important, there is usually more information to convey than is practical. Combine that with a short timeline and you've got a classic training conundurm.

YOUR GOAL
TRAINING OBJECTIVE OBSTACLES TO YOUR GOAL
SMEs (everything is important)
Timeline (it's due tomorrow)
Volume (too much information)

Enter the infographic. Well-designed infographics convey messages in a way that eases comprehension; they capitalize on our innate understandings of the world around us to help build context and retain information.

COMMON INFOGRAPHICS

DIAGRAMS
Often used for overlaying statistics with context (e.g.a weather map, a device cross-section, etc).

PROCESS
Used for depicting step-by-step procedures (e.g. the very infographic you're reading now!)

A
1 2 3 4 5
2a 4a

1 2
3
5 2

CHARTS
A simple. elegant way of comparing/contrasting related data.

TIMELINES
Reinforcing the concepts of growth or change over a time period; can be incredibly illustrative and concise.

2000 2006
2002 2009

HOW TO BUILD YOUR OWN INFOGRAPHIC

The challenge with creating an infographic isn't the graphic design, it's getting data to the point where it's streamlined enough to see the visual metaphor. Try this 3-step process next time you think an infographic might be a good fit.

1 DEFINE YOUR GOALS
What knowledge does my trainee need to walk way with?
What data will communicate this knowledge most efficiently?

2 REFINE THE DATA
Now that you've got your data, get rid of the "nice-to-know" data points, and focus on the " need-to-know"

NICE TO KNOW
NICE TO KNOW
NEED TO KNOW!
NICE TO KNOW

3 DESIGN YOUR GRAPHIC
Now that the hard parts done, it's time to get designing! You don't have to be a professional graphic designer to create a great infographic. Keep it simple! Use any and all tools available - from PowerPoint Smart Art to Snagit, Adobe Illustrator to Fireworks.

mindflash
(c)2010, Mindflash technologies CREATING INFOGRAPHICS FOR YOUR TRAINING MAKING THE COMPLEX SIMPLE What's standing between your Trainees and your training objectives? Oftentimes it's complexity. Whether it's the volume of information or a SME who thinks everything is important, there is usually more information to convey than is practical. Combine that with a short timeline and you've got a classic training conundrum. YOUR GOAL TRAINING OBJECTIVE OBSTACLES TO YOUR GOAL SMES (everything is important) Timeline (it's due tomorrow) Volume (too much information) Enter the infographic. Well-designed infographics convey messages in a way that eases comprehension; they capitalize on our innate understandings of the world around us to help build context and retain information. COMMON INFOGRAPHICS DIAGRAMS Often used for overlaying statistics with context (e.g. a weather map, a device cross-section, etc). PROCESS Used for depicting step-by-step procedures (e.g. the very infographic you're reading now!) 2a 4a CHARTS A simple, elegant way of comparing/contrasting related data. TIMELINES Reinforcing the concepts of growth or change over a time period; can be incredibly illustrative and concise 2000 2006 2002 2009 HOW TO BUILD YOUR OWN INFOGRAPHIC The challenge with creating an infographic isn't the graphic design, it's getting data to the point where it's streamlined enough to see the visual metaphor. Try this 3-step process next time you think an infographic might be a good fit. (1 DEFINE YOUR GOALS What knowledge does my trainee need to walk away with? What data will communicate this knowledge most efficiently? REFINE THE DATA Now that you've got your data, get rid of the "nice-to-know" data points, and focus on the "need-to-know". NICE TO KNOW NICE TO KNOW NEED TO KNOW! NICE TO KNOW DESIGN YOUR GRAPHIC Now that the hard part is done, it's time to get designing! You don't have to be a professional graphic designer to create a great infographic. Keep it simple! Use any and all tools avail- able - from PowerPoint Smart Art to Snagit, Adobe Illustrator to Fireworks. m!ndflash (c) 2010, Mindfiash Technologies