Quote Originally Posted by catherine View Post
Kind of a rant-y observation in the workplace.

I was asked, last minute, to write a report for a quick study I moderated. I was given the task of writing the report just Tuesday, and I was told the deliverable could be a bulleted summary. I created a 10 page report which included the 2 pages of executive summary they asked for.

So, just got this feedback from the client: "The current deck doesn’t address the 2 page executive summary that highlight’s (sic) all of the themes visually and succinctly."

My exec sum is two pages, with the themes clearly designated in color blocks. I'm quite sure there are no more than 200 words on the two pages.

My rant is the Era of Infographia. I don't mind infographics; in fact, I do find them easy to read. But they take time and energy to do. You have to analyze the content, edit it down to the nuggets, and then figure out how to use color, arrows, icons and blocks of text to get it all done "visually and succinctly."

These two pages I created under a tight timeline would take the reader no more than 5 minutes to process. And it's not a criticism of this particular client--it's just a sign of the times. I have gotten pushback from post-docs who complain about too many words. I'm sure this is a Baby Boomer rant. And I'm sure that this post is already too many words and too few pictures.
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