Summary of the Sole Writers SIG Meeting

Held January 5, 1998 Meeting 4: Presenting Information through the eyes of Ed Tufte

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On January 5, 1998, the SIG meet to discuss Presenting Information through the eyes of Ed Tufte, based on his book Visualizing Information.

There were two warm-up exhibits:

1. A clipping from the Boston Globe discussing the invention of a spring-loaded snow shovel. The connection here was to last month's meeting on inventiveness. Lessons learned from the clipping:

• Avoid the need to invent everything yourself. First learn what's been done, then adapt it to your needs.
• It's good to have something tangible when you make your sales pitch. Prototypes sell ideas!

2. A pun-filled copy of William Safire's column "On Language."

The meeting began with definitions of two key principles espoused by Edward Tufte: repetition and layering. The rest of the meeting refined the understanding of these principles, by using repetition and layering. Just as Tufte practices what he preaches, the SIG mirrored the topic with their activities.

The quantity and variety of Tufte's illustrations were also discussed. His third chapter has 27 illustrations (~53 drawings) across only 16 pages. There is something for everyone. One lesson: Examples should be interesting in their own right.

The layered quality of Tufte's page layout was also examined. Only 6 styles of paragraphs, yet very flexible. The key to having many layers, without causing clashes or confusion, is to use subtle distinctions between each layer.

Individual read aloud key paragraphs from the book and these passages were discussed. Analogies for technical communicators were also discussed: the lens and the funnel. This was an exciting conversation that is too detailed to relate in this summary.

The SIG also considered why does Tufte appeal to such a broad audience of readers? One answer is that he has so many layers of information that anyone can glean any amount of learning, from casual readers to fanatical students.

Next, the SIG looked at a popular culture book called America's Dumbest Criminals and proclaimed it as noise, junk, and worthless. There was debate about its worthiness, but no one questioned that the contents are unverifiable.

Then the SIG examined the recently published STC finanacial statements for 1997 and evaluated the document through the eyes of Tufte.

Finally, they did a quick read of a letter and spreadsheet written by a human resources manager. The document fails to communicate the intended information.

Special Bonus

Here is a opportunity for anyone who attended this meeting last night. You'll recall our discussion about the communication process ("communication is a educational discipline"). It works as follows:

1. People store new information in short-term memory.
2. Then, some information moves into long-term memory.
3. Repetition and emotional impact aid this transfer.

Now imagine two kinds of repetition: short-cycle and long-cycle.

• Short-cycle repetitions occur within minutes of each other.
• Long-cycle repetitions occur within hours or days.

During the meeting, a lot of short-cycle repetition was done. This helped to understand the material and began to make imprints on long-term memory. Today is your best opportunity to solidify your knowledge. Here is what to do:

1. Print this page.
2. Get out your hand-out materials from the meeting.
3. Read the following summary and look over the corresponding materials point-by-point.
4. Do this today or tonight. This is a critical period in the acquisition process. Do not wait until tomorrow.

If you feel inspired, follow-up this activity by reading and studying Tufte's third chapter. Take your time, stretch the reading over a week (that's 2 pages a night). What new information appears that we did not discuss in the meeting? The effort you expend will blend nicely with Febrary's meeting when we again refer to Tufte's principles.