I’ve decided to create a few concepts to show you exactly how I approach adapting pdf reports for the web. These will be unofficial concepts adapted from real reports and resources. My goal is to show you what’s possible. How it Started – UNICEF Strategic Plan 2026-2029 I originally set out to find a regular […]
Einstein had a day job.
It’s been a rough year. A lot of evaluators, researchers, and scientists have lost their jobs. And finding new work, which is always hard, is made even harder when it feels like your field is collapsing. I hope we see a resurgence in funding sometime sooner than later. If you’re out of work I hope […]
My latest book, now Free-to-Read
Want to read my book without paying for it? Now you can do that. There is a title page, introduction, and five chapters. Each is on its own page with navigation to help you go through. It’s digital, not a pdf, so that means it is auto-translatable and mobile-responsive. To access just follow this link: […]
My General Theory of Dissemination
Looking pretty is good and feeling cool is fun, but being accessible is better. When it comes to sharing our work, we create barriers. Most of the time it’s not on purpose. 1. Format barriers. Such as using PDFs with a smart phone audience. 2. Physical access barriers. Only presenting at conferences where live attendance/fees […]
Watching and waiting.
I’ve been a bit pessimistic lately. Or perhaps I’ve just been a bit a realistic, which can be far more depressing. In the past several weeks I’ve written and deleted a few different LinkedIn posts. I know that many of you appreciate the honesty in some of my comics, even the ones that feel a […]
The Report Design Multitask Problem
One of the biggest report design frustrations is something that’s not on most people’s radar. I talk about this in my book The Reporting Revolution (it‘s only $5, you should buy it!), but I’ve also talked about the concept in workshops. Here is a clip from my Everyday Report Design workshop. Most evaluators and researchers […]
The Cassandra Curse
I kick off my latest book with the story about Cassandra. I feel like being an evaluator or researcher or data analyst puts you in this position where you learn things. It then becomes your responsibility to share what you’ve learned with others. But if we fail to share it effectively, what’s the difference between […]
The PDF Must Die
For the last ten years or so I’ve taken a pretty measured stance on PDFs. Saying that they’re okay in moderation, perhaps even useful. That’s the stance I take in The Reporting Revolution. I share three reporting strategies and the first is a modern PDF strategy. I kept it in because the book is really […]
The Reporting Revolution 2nd Edition (NOW AVAILABLE!)
Now Available! The Reporting Revolution (2nd Edition) What’s new? Launch Special! If you buy the book in November, you’ll get access to a free modern reporting jumpstart webinar on December 4 at 11AM Eastern. I’ll even record the thing, so even if you miss it you can still watch. All you have to do is […]
The Reporting Three-Step Method
Summary: In this post I’ll show you a quick way to set up your own continuous reporting system. I’ve been working on my follow-up to The Reporting Revolution. I think I did an okay job of setting up my basic argument, that it’s time to change how we report and move beyond the PDF. I […]
The Future of Reporting
Summary: In this post I’m going to tell you the future. You can think about prediction as looking at the past and then projecting into the future. But there is an easier way. Instead of looking backwards or forwards, look to the side. Whatever you face, chances are, other fields or organizations are going through […]
Evaluation Resources from the CoP
Last week we officially launched the new Eval Central (a.k.a. the FreshSpectrum Community of Practice). For the launch on Thursday, September 18, we had a simple evaluation resource sharing session. It was a really nice gathering with 30-ish evaluators joining from across the globe (from the west coast of the US & Canada to Pakistan). […]