Visual Communication in Evaluation: The Leading Edge of Awesome

Low Awesomeness Scale High

The norm

You!

Claire ThomaEvaluation & Research Coordinator

The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis

17%

22%

42%

18%

Number of Times Survey Respon-dents Visited the TOTE Exhibit be-

tween June 2011 and August 2012 (n=845)

123-56+

Seti I Kidd TCW Lab Overlook0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%95% 93%

89%

65%

54%

Areas Survey Respondents Reported Exploring

Perc

ent o

f Res

pond

ents

(n=8

14)

Stephanie Evergreen

Learn about evaluation Plan for evaluation Increase communication with other staff

Generate and refine ideas0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

R&E Group Participants’ Reflections

Series1

Learn about evaluation Plan for evaluation Increase communication with other staff

Generate and refine ideas0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

R&E Group Participants’ Reflections

Learn about evaluation

Increase communication with other staff

Plan for evaluation

Generate and refine ideas

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%

The R&E Group has allowed me to…

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

37%

29%

17%

17%

The R&E Group has allowed me to…

Generate and refine ideas

Plan for evaluation

Increase communication

Learn about evaluation

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

37%

29%

17%

17%

The R&E Group has been less successful in helping par-ticipants plan for evaluation.

Generate and refine ideas

Plan for evaluation

Increase communication

Learn about evaluation

3. Use interpretive titles

2. Use color intentionally

1. Reduce Clutter

2

7

7

9

11

18Quantity

Direction/Position

Time/Sequence

Self/Social Awareness

School Readiness

Texture

Based on their percentiles, the greatest number of students (17%) scored below average on the Quantity section, and the fewest students (2%) scored below average on the Texture/Material section.

ParticipationBehaviors

Collaboration & Problem-SolvingBehaviors

EnhancementBehaviors

Non-Interactive Behaviors

Art studio

Music studio

Babyscape

Natural World

Invented World

Whole Gallery

34%

42%

38%

33%

32%

35%

9%

20%

8%

17%

17%

15%

38%

23%

36%

46%

40%

38%

19%

15%

19%

4%

11%

12%

Figure 7. The distribution of the three Family Learning categories of Participation, Collaboration, and Enhancement was similar across the five gallery areas. However, non-interactive behaviors were less likely to occur in Natural World than in other areas.

Parent perception of change in various skills (% of respondents)

Extent to which that change is attributed to participation in the Preschool (% of respondents)

Improved No Change Decreased To a Great

ExtentTo Some Extent

To No Extent

Not Applicable

Reading/Letter Recognition 96 4 0 58 39 2 2

Writing 96 4 0 74 23 0 4Math/Number Recognition 95 5 0 54 40 2 4

Fine Motor Skills 91 9* 0 40 56 4 2Vocabulary 100 0 0 39 58 4 0

Observational Drawing 93 5 2 86 12 0 2

Critical Thinking 98 2 0 42 54 2 2

Making Observations 93 7 0 47 44 0 9*

Social Interactions 88 12* 0 58 33 0 9*

Following Instructions 84 16* 0 42 46 2 11*

Self-Regulation 75 14* 2 28 49 7 16*

Table 1. Parent perceptions of student development over the past year and the extent to which growth is attributed to the Preschool Program (n=57). Parents attributed much of their children’s academic development to the Preschool Program.

*These parents commented that they felt their child had entered the school year with certain skills well-developed and their children had maintained, rather than improved, those skills. These are also skills that are developed as much or more by parents than the school.

Figure 3: The elements where the highest percent of families stopped were the largest physical elements in the gallery.

Goal: Clear Communication

• Things to Try– Interpretive titles for graphs and

charts– Reduce clutter in graphs and charts– Use color intentionally– Add sidebars or other visual interest

to Executive Summaries– Infographic Executive Summaries

Hello, I’m Kate Haley Goldman.

FromAudience Viewpoints

• It takes practice.

• Practice involves discussion in community.

• Increase your time budgeted for visualization and presentation.

• The “two-report” problem is real, but results in better synthesis.

The big ideas

Hey.I’m Kate.

I’m here to talk to you about drawing.

Feelfree to draw or color as I talk.

Kate’s short list

of drawing

inspiration

Dave Gray

Dave Gray

Dave Gray

There’s more information at your fingertips than ever before, and yet people are overwhelmed by it. When faced with too much information we shut down. If your ideas can’t be drawn, they can’t be done.

Dave Gray

This is a fallacy. You can draw, and when you were a kid you knew it. You just forgot.

Dave Gray

“I’m no artist.”“I can’t draw a straight line.”“I can’t draw a stick figure.”

DanRoam

DanRoam

DanRoam

DanRoam

Which problems can be solved with pictures?All of them. I’m serious!

Visual thinking is about clarifying what’s in our own heads so that we can get other people to see it too.

DanRoam

When we use pictures, people see exactly what we mean, we captivate our audience’s mind, and we banish boredom.

MikeRohde

MikeRohde

MikeRohde

Sketch something every day, even if it’s a useless doodle. It’s critical to keep your mind active — every single day!

MikeRohde

…because someone is actively listening, processing and selecting important ideas, sketchnotes have personality. What they may lose in fine detail is replaced with a concise, personal way of capturing the moment.

MikeRohde

ChrisChopyak

ChrisChopyak

ChrisChopyak

for real!

ChrisChopyak

Pictures help us see what is important and remember it in a way that a report does not.

ChrisChopyak

We remove cultural barriers – whether organizational, ethnic or language barriers – when we work with images rather than words.

The cruder the drawing, the better. With a less perfect picture, all participants have the opportunity to see themselves in the image and stay engaged.

ChrisLysy

ChrisLysy

ChrisLysy

ChrisLysy

Over the years I’ve found many great thinkers and important concepts that are vastly under-illustrated.

ChrisLysy

And if the contemporary web has taught us anything, it’s that visuals are incredibly important for the spread of ideas.

Tips for Drawing:1. Make Space2. Listen3. Love4. Be Nice

Makespace

Literally.

Listen (TED talks & podcasts)

Love your office supplies

Be nice to yourself!

You can draw.

Next Steps:

1. Draw-- daily*2. Join the movement3. Work visually4. Stay in touch

*at least color!

The leading edge of Awesome is waiting!Who’s with us?

Low Awesomeness Scale High

The norm

You!

exposeyourmuseum.com/vsa2015communication