Welcome to the first FreshSpectrum Challenge. In this series we start with a real-world dense technical report or resource (what I call Nerd Reports). Then through a series of activities, you do the work of breaking it down. Register here if you’d like to join the free challenge and gain access to the challenge community. […]
Articles
The FreshSpectrum Challenge
Do you have what it takes to break down technical work for broader audiences? Can you prove it? There is nothing wrong with writing thorough, dense, and highly technical reports and resources. But if you want your insights to drive action, you have to intentionally break them down for other people. It’s practical work requiring […]
Stop Searching for a Happy Medium
In my last post I made the claim that you should write the nerd report. After that, you can break it down for other people. So that suggests there are two types of reports, nerd reports & other people reports. But in practice, I think we really see four. Two useful types (nerd reports & […]
Write the Nerd Report
Did you know that I have nerd version of my Theory of Use post? It’s a 9,000+ word working paper filled with lots of citations and a bunch of technical gobbledegook. I did a readability check on it and it’s definitely college level (if not post-grad). I have not shared it with anyone. I am […]
Broken Resource Theory
So I’m an information designer with a quantitative background who doesn’t care that much about charts and graphs. I used to to care a lot, and you will find some guidance on this site about chart design (this blog has been going since 2010 which is over half of my professional career). But over time […]
Theory of Use
Never before in history have we had so many tools and channels we could use to deliver research and evaluation insights directly to people who could actually use them. And yet, most organizations still rely on outdated and ineffective dissemination strategies. Now it’s easy to bash the organizations, but the truth is that our research […]