2017Vol.15 No.29:80

Research Article

Global Media Journal ISSN 1550-7521

1© Under License of Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License | This article is available in: http://www.globalmediajournal.com

Amlendu Kumar1 and Doaa Alamoudi2*

1 SolutionsArchitect,WalgreensBootsAlliance,London,UK

2 FacultyofManagementofScience,YanbuUniversityCollege(YUC),SaudiArabia

*Corresponding author: DoaaAlamoudi

doaa-hassan88@hotmail.com

Lecture,FacultyofManagementofScience,YanbuUniversityCollege(YUC),SaudiArabia.

Tel:+96656590484

Citation:KumarA,AlamoudiD.InformationVisualization:ACaseStudyofUndergraduateStudents.GlobalMediaJournal2017,15:29.

IntroductionInformation visualization tools enable users to show simple ormultimedia embedded slides on computer or on a projectionsystem.Onesuchtool incorporatesanimation, images,sounds,texts,videosandchartsforaninteractiveexperience.Presentationisalsoaffectedbysystemdynamicsofpresentation,useofvisualsandtheabilitytomanagehumanattentionspan.Wealsodiscussthesystemdynamicsformedof interactionbetweenpresenter,toolandtheaudience.Thispaperidentifiessomeoftheaspectsof storytelling visually using the popular tool thatmay help inimprovingtheuserexperience.

Problem statementInformation visualization is extensively used in makingpresentations. Recently one such tool PowerPoint has seen anescalationinarticlesandstudiesthatdepictitasevil,deadlyandmaking users stupid [1]. This paper presents the little nuancesthatwasidentifiedinmakingapresentationeffective.Thepastresearch papers are overwhelmingly shadowed by Tuftes “Thecognitive style of PowerPoint” research paper and New YorkTimes article [2,3]. Herewe present a new approach tomakepresentationsthatavoidthesepitfalls.Outofthisweproposeaframeworktomakeevaluatesuccessfulpresentations.

History of VisualizationSomeoftheearliestexamplesofstorytellingusingvisualizationare seen in paintings on caves walls and ceilings at Lascaux(Figure 1)from22,000yearsago[4,5].Itisobservedthatsomeofthesecaveswerewithouthabitationthereforeusedonlyfor

communicationandceremonialpurposes.Mostpaintingsareonthethemesofpowerfulbeastsandriskyhunting.Thepaintingsclearlydepictthearrowsstuckinanimalsthatwereshotusingbowandarrowsbythehuntersandconveythemessageeffectivelyinaccordancewith“apicturepaintsathousandwords”[6].

Historically visualization was used in medieval times as seenin some of the stained glass and other illustrations (Figure 2) presentinoldmanuscripts[7].

Itisseenthatthereisahugeamountofinformationispresentedand it is grouped inmanybranches.Mary isdepicted standingatthefootofthetreeofvirtues[7].Thetreehas7branchesi.e.prudence,fortitude,justice,temperance,faith,hopeandcharity.Therealsoothercharacter’spartofthis illustrationi.e.Gabriel,Prudence,FortitudeandTemperance.

AnotherfamousexampleofstorytellingthroughvisualizationistheworkdonebyMichaelAngeloatSistineChapelceiling(Figure 3)atVaticanCity[8,9].

Effect of visuals in a presentationThe visuals areunderstoodup to60000times fasterdue theircognitiveandemotional impact [10].According toBurmark “…unlessourwords,concepts,ideasarehookedontoanimage,theywillgoinoneear,sailthroughthebrain,andgoouttheotherear.

Information Visualization: A Case Study of Undergraduate Students

Received: February08,2017; Accepted: August21,2017; Published: August30,2017

AbstractThis paper focuses on the various aspects of information visualization whenmakingaprofessionalandeffectivepresentation.Weproposeaframeworkbasedtwosetsoffactors;perfectioninenvironmentalfactorsandclarityinproblemandsolution identification inmakinga successfulpresentation.Thispaper removesthe subjectivity associated inmaking consistentpresentingvisuallybyapplyingvariousscientificmethods.

Keywords: Story telling; Visualization; Visuals; Environment; System dynamics;Aesthetics;Schema;Presentationtool

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Wordsareprocessedbyourshort-termmemorywherewecanonlyretainabout7bitsofinformation(plusorminus2).Images,ontheotherhand,godirectlyintolong-termmemorywheretheyareindeliblyetched.”

AccordingtoMikeusingtheexampleofasimplecircle(Figure 4)itisseentextualdescriptionrequiresmorebrainprocessing.

“Cognitively: Graphics increase “comprehension, recollection,andretention”.Visualcluesprovideadditionalhintstounderstandtext and derive to information creating easy to remembermemorymapsfortheaudience”.

“Emotionally:Picturesgivevisualcuestomotivateourimaginationand creative thinking by stimulating our brain. This enhancesemotions, attitudes and overall understanding of presentation[11].AccordingtoBumarkvisualsarebetterrememberedastheyarestoredinlong-termmemory.

Presentation as storytelling: There are always three speeches, for every one you actually gave. The one you practiced, the one you gave, and the one you wish you gave.” – Dale Carnegie.

All presentations can be abstracted into storytelling andits subcomponents. The usual elements are the characters(stakeholders)theintroductionoftheproblemandthesolution.Withinthescopefromproblemtothesolutionlietheambience,delivery,rapportwithaudienceandtheclarityofthedeliveredmessage.Inthispaperwewillanalyzeastudyof40presentersonsomeoftheabovediscussedaspects.

Human attention span: “Gold fish effect” is the classicaldefinitionforlackofaudienceattentionspanasithasattentionofapproximately9seconds.AccordingtoMicrosoftpeopleloseattentionafter8secondsonly. InastudycarriedoutinCanadaresearchers found brain activity for attention span decreasedfrom12secondspreinterneterato8currentlywhichispoorerthanthatofagoldfish[12].

In order to get keep audience attention a presenter may tryto create interest by using multiple mediums such as slidesand flipcharts. The rule for attention lies in making the topicinteresting for the audience. Quotes, photographs and, openrhetorical questions can be combined in the storyline to keepaudienceinterested.

System dynamics of presentationA presentation system can be decomposed into three basiccomponents; Presenter, audience and the Presentation tools(Figure 5).

Presenter: The successful presenter is able to create livecharacters in audiences mind. They are also able to motivateaudienceforachange[13].

Visualization tools: There populartoolsusedinmakinginmakingaudiovisualpresentations.Thesehelpindeliveringastorytotheaudience and therefore a goodpresentation should follow thethumbrulesofagoodstoryline.Everystorylinehasthreemajoraspectsofcharacters,problemandsolution.Ifthereisambiguityin any of these the presentation is likely to miss its intended

Figure 1 FrenchCavePaintingofHunting30000BCE.

Figure 2 AnnunciationtoMary(1400AD).

purpose.Thevisualsshouldbesimpleconsistentandnotcreatedistraction.Eachslideshouldfocusonfewideaswithamaximumoffivebulletpoints.

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Identification of Problem and Its SolutionInteractionAllpresentationsaremadewiththeintentionofmakingimpacton its stakeholders. As in any good storyline when the targetaudience isableto identifythemselveswiththeproblemthereisabetterreceptionoftheconveyedideathroughthisemotionalinteraction.Goodpresentersalsoputafewunbiasedquestionstointeractwithitsaudience.Thesequestionsareusuallyframedinaviewtomakeviewersexpresstheirviewpointandshouldbeposedaroundthebeginningormiddleofpresentationtobuildarapportandtocreateanambiencethatrapportisestablishedwiththeaudiencebykeepingtheconveyedmessageasconcise,comprehensive and simple to understand as possible. Theproblemshouldbepresentedinsuchawaythattheyaudienceispartofit.Akeysuccessfactorinanystorytellingistheabilitytoconnectwiththeaudienceatthelevel“IwantyoutofeelwhatIfeel”.Thisrequiresbeliefofthepresenterintheirpresentationasbeinghonestinmakingiteasytoconnecttotheaudience.Oncetheaudienceispartofpresentationtheykeepalertanddonotloseinterest.Inordertoachievetheseobjectivespresentersalsousestrongimagery(Figure 7)andvideos.

Make eye contact with audienceAccording toaFrenchproverb"Theeyesare themirrorof thesoul" Cicero (106-43 B.C.). Eye contact is one of the ways toformrelationshipwiththeaudience.Witheyecontacttheyfeelobservedandbelieveinwhatisbeingpresented.Eyecontactalsoconveysthepresenter’ssincerity,honestyandconfidence.Somepresentersarenervousinmakingeyecontacts.Theycaneithermakecontactwiththeirfriendsinaudienceorlooktowardsthelastwalloftheroomtoavoidnervousness.Theycanalsoconversewithanimaginaryfriendwithwhomtheyarecomfortableanddonotfeelnervous.

Present content incrementallyThepresentershouldfollowatopdownapproachinhisdelivery.Startattheveryhighlevelviewofthestoryandthenmovedown

Audience: Presenterswhoareabletoidentifywhattheaudiencewantsmakeeffectivepresentations.Thepresentershouldfocusonaudienceandnotthepresentation.

Methods of enhancing a presentationWe propose a framework for making effective presentationsusingcombinationofenvironmentalfactors,theproblemanditssolution(Figure 6).

Theenvironmentalfactorsarethefontselection,colourschema,design,timetodeliver,animationandaudiovisualcontent.Theidentificationofproblemandsolutionfactorsareinteractionwithaudience,makingeyecontact,incrementalbuildup,summarytorecapandtheQAsession.

Thegeneralruleofmakingpresentationsis,onlydeliverwhatyouwouldwanttoseeyourself.

Figure 3 CapellaSistinaCeiling.

Figure 4 Circlegraphicandtextdescription.

Figure 5 Systemdynamicsofapresentation.

SomewhatSuccessful

SomewhatSuccessful

PoorPresentation

SuccessfulPresentation

Envi

ronm

ent S

etup

Perf

ectio

n

Identification of Problem + Solution

Conf

usio

n

Ambiguity Clarity

Figure 6 Problemandenvironmentalrelationshipinapresentation.

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into the finer details. The presentation should not be overtlydetailedyetthepresentershouldhavethedetailedknowledge.The presentation should build upon the previous slides anddiscussion(Figure 8).Theendslidesshouldwrapthestoryline.

In introduction presenter discusses the problem statementand the characters andhis intentions. The content is themainargumentsaroundtheirstoryandproposedsolution.Conclusionputsawrapperoverthesolution,providesasummaryandthenfurtherclarifiesaudience’squestionsanddoubts.

Keeping continuity and Interlinking of contentAccording to a web definition continuity is the unbroken andconsistent existence or operation of something over a periodoftime;A stateof stabilityand theabsenceofdisruption.Thedeliveredstorylinebeingdeliveredshouldbeinterlinkedsotheaudience does not lose their viewpoint. The presenter shouldensure there is continuity and linkage of the content. The lastslideshouldbeclearandsummarizethemainmessage.

Question answer sessionPresentermustbeawareonallaspectsofthetopicandbereadytoansweranyquestionsaskedbytheaudience.

Skipping slides: If a presentation exceeds allocated time thenslides with repetitive information or a few unimportant bulletpointscanbeavoided.

Practice: Apresentershouldpracticethepresentationfortimingandgettingfamiliarizedwiththecontentsoslidesarebestnotreadout.Helpcanhadfromothermembers.

Environmental factors of presentingColor schema: Colorscheme ispartofenvironmentthat forms

partof thepresentationdelivery.Theusualpractice is tohavehighcontrastschemeofdarkbluesandgreensinthebackgroundwithblack.Allcolorshouldbestableandfreefromflicker.Threeorlesscolorinaslideislessdistracting.

Time keeping: Themosteffectivestorytellingandpresentationsoccur inmaximum time of 20minutes. The 20minutes is theupper limit of casual human adults attention span and thisincludestheQAtime[14,15].

Number of slides: Using a time frameenvelopeof 20min theslidenumbershouldbe15orfewer.

Font selection: Presentation should be easily readable inmostlightingandcontrastsituations.Simplesansseriffontsareeasierto read however there is no distinct difference in 24 point orhigherfontsizes.FontssuchasComicSanscanbeusedtocreatespecialambience insomepresentationsbygivinghandwritteneffect. Decorative borders and ornaments are distracting andbestavoidedunlessthetopicdemandsso.

Use of bullet points: Bullet points cannot be avoided in anypresentation.Bulletpointscanbecreatedusingsemanticwordsorstrongphrases.Theycanbecombinedwithvisualsthatcreatethe relationshipwith the impliedmeaning and creatememoryspaceamongsttheaudience.

Animation: Animationsarebothaloveandhaterelationshipastherearetoomanytoomanychoices.Overindulginginanimationremoves the focus and breaks the flow. If a presenter mustdecideonusing thennotmore than three transitionsper slideis the upper limit. Overtly complicated animations in text aredistractiveandaddnoise. If there isa loop inanyanimation itshouldstopatthreereplaysasitsuppressesthesignal

Video: Anyvideothatformspartofthepresentationshouldbetowardsendunlesspartofdiscussion.Videolengthofmorethan2minutesisexcessive.SomevideosinstudentpresentationmaynotbeconsideredasoriginalworkifcopiedfromYouTube.Loopsarebestavoided.

Illustration and graphics: Asdiscussedearlierapictureiswortha thousand words. However overtly complicated illustrationsdefeattheintendedpurpose(Figure 9).

Making virtual and online presentationsVirtual presentation is one of the presentation methods topresent and transfer knowledge online. When making onlinepresentations ensure that the slides have enough information.As there isnoone is toone interaction,presenterneedstobeabletochangevoiceaccordingtothesituationandensurethattheslidescontainmorediagrams/graphics.Thepresenterneedstocheckthatthemicrophoneandvideoisworkingwellandalltheaudiencecanhearthevoice. If thepresentationisnot live,presenterneedtomakesurethatthespokenlanguageisclear.Presenterneedtopracticethescriptbeforerecordingandmakesurethatthereissilencesecondbeforeandafterpresentation.

Pitfalls to avoidHandout end up being read during the actual presentation

Figure 7 Examplemovingimageonwar.

Figure 8 Timelinesforpresentingcontent.

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presentationcriteriasuchascontent,useofmediaandgraphic,organizationofthepresentation,timespenttodeliverthetopic,voice modulation and subject knowledge. The evaluation wasbasedonascaleofexcellent,good,fairandpoor.Indetail,thegroups were evaluated based on their presentations contentfor relevant information based on text and narration. Contentincludedadditionaldetailedinformationfromfurtherresearchofthetopicandproperreferencing.HighermarksGroupswithwell-designedslides,legibletext,balanceduseofgraphicsandvisualeffectswith good proofreading scored higher grades. Studentswere also expected to demonstrate extensive subject matterknowledgethoughaQAsession.

Analyses and DiscussionThe results of the previous study are provided in chart below(Figure 10). The total marks for the assessment were 20. Themarking criteria were excellent grade if their marks are 17 orhigher and good if theirmarks arewithin 16 to 13. A group’sperformance is fairwhentheirmarksarebetween12to9andanylessthanthoseresultsinpoorgrade.

Thechartbelow (Figure 11) shows furtherdetailedbreakdownof the groups marks based on the assessment criteria. It isobservedgroup2and5obtainedhighergradesastheyfull-filledthemaximumassessmentcriteria.Itisalsonoticedthatmostofthegroupslostmarksbecauseoftheirvoice(duetonervousness)wasnotclear,lackofdeepsubjectknowledgeorlackofpractice.

Resultsbasedontheproposedframework:Theframeworkwasusedinplottingthestudentsassessmentbasedonenvironmentalfactor vs. identificationof problems and solution clarity. TheXaxis is based on environmental factors scale for which rangesfrom ambiguity to clarity. The Y axis is plotted from scale of

Figure 9 WefoundtheculpritanditisPowerPoint.

19 18.25 12.5

9.5 14.5 15.5

7 0

5

10

15

20

Group1 Group2 Group3 Group4 Group5 Group6 Group7

Excellent Fair Good Poor

Figure 10 Groups'AssessmentandGrades.

therefore the audience lose interest. Any animation that isnostop isdistracting.Audienceshouldbeateaseandnot feelintimidated.Avoiduhs, ahs, I think, notprepared, lackoftimeasall thesegoesagainst thepresenter.Anyautoprogressalsocreatesasituationwherethepresentationneedstobepausedduetoanyreason.Anydetaileddescriptionsarenotintendedinpresentationsandmaybebehandedafterpresentationasfurtherreading.Anyrepeatedcontentalsolosesaudienceinterest.

MethodologyPrimary research was conducted using data collected from asample of presentationsmade by Undergraduate E-CommerceStudents. These presentationswere based on business-modelsandHTMLwebdesigning.Thestudentswerefurtherdividedinto7groupsof(5-6)studentsoutofatotalof40.Marksfromthesesevengroupsofstudentswereusedinthecasestudy.Astratifiedcomplexsamplingmethodhasbeenapplied

in this case-study [16]. The groups were evaluated bases on

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0 5 10 15 20 25

ContentPresentation/Organization

Graphic/use of mediaTime usageKnowledge

Voice/deliveryReferences

Group1 Group2 Group3 Group4

Group5 Group6 Group7

Figure 11 DetailedbreakdownofGroups'Assessment.

Figure 12 Resultsbasedontheproposedframework.

in problem identification and confusion to perfection on theenvironmentalfactorsitbecomesmoresuccessful.AudioVisualpresentationsaremostly intended forhigh leveldiscussionsassomemacroandmicrodetailsmaybemissedthereforeonesizefitsallapproachmaybeavoidedforcertainpurposes[2].Someof the criteria discussed in this paper can also be adopted toevaluateeffectivenessofpostersandotherprintmedia.

confusiontoperfection.Theevaluationisbasedonasubsetofcriteria discussed in earlier section. The groups who achieved(4,3)means theymade poor presentation (Figure 12). Groupswhoachieved (9, 9.25)delivered successful presentations. Thegroups in between provided partially successful presentationswheretheywererecommendedtoimprovefurther.

ConclusionAudiovisualpresentationsareverysubjectiveasanyotherstorytelling. The system dynamics of presenter audience and thetools used havemany variables. The criteria suggested in thispaperprovidescientificbasisformakingconsistentandeffectivepresentations.Asapresentationmovesfromambiguitytoclarity

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