Solid, outlined, hatched: How visual consistency helps better understand reports, presentations and dashboards

The foundational work for report writers and report readers

Something is wrong with business communication. Executives find themselves tortured with overloaded reports and bored by confusing presentations. Some feel downright harassed. The creators of reports and presentations, on the other hand, frequently complain that their managers do not take the trouble to study and understand their explanations. If the sender is not being understood and the receiver is not feeling well served, something is wrong with business communication.

Business communication in written reports, live presentations and interactive dashboards is not effective. It can be slow and painful to extract the information. A lack of standards in visual communication is the primary cause of this problem. The lack of notation standards means that every chart and every table looks different. Discerning no patterns, the readers must re-orient themselves each time. Introducing easy to recognize patterns using notation standards ensures reports are actually read and understood.

This reference book demonstrates how visual consistency improves communication with reports, presentations and dashboards. The authors transfer the principle of “notation standards” commonly found in many disciplines such as music or engineering to business communication. They develop a visual reporting language and apply it to the charts and tables used in business reports, presentation slides and interactive management information systems. Practical examples prove: They are on the right track.

Contents

1. Understanding through pattern recognition
   What we can learn from musicians and engineers
   
2. Signs and their meaning
   We develop a visual reporting language
   
3. Templates for report objects, analyses and business topics
   We report standardized
   
4. Notation manual and real life examples
   Implementation in practice
   
5. Acceptance and dissemination
   Who finds the rules?
   

Authors

DR. ROLF HICHERT has dedicated himself to the visualization of management information and the methods necessary to improve it. He has earned an international reputation as a critic of bad reports and hard-to-understand business charts. Known for not mincing his words and getting right to the point, Rolf Hichert is a sought-after speaker on informationdesign.

DR. JÜRGEN FAISST is a business economist, musician, notation expert, experienced manager, passionate trainer and a sought-after speaker at international conferences. He instructs executives, management accountants, Business Intelligenceemployees and consultants on how to use the International Business Communication Standards (IBCS) to design successfulreports, presentations and dashboards.