Reporting

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 try to write, design, and illustrate their reports all at the same time – usually the night before it’s due. This multitasking approach is why your reports feel like a struggle and often don’t look as good as you’d hoped.

There’s a better way: Split the work into three parallel tracks – writing, design, and illustration.

In this video, I’ll show you how to:

• Separate your writing from your design work
• Use placeholder text (lorem ipsum) to design before you write
• Get approval on layouts early, before investing time in content
• Reduce the late-night stress of making reports “look pretty”

This simple process shift will save you time and create better-looking reports.

Prefer the transcript?

Transcript

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 us and Cassandra.

Here’s the intro.

Girl meets a god who gives her a divine power to see the future. The girl then turns down the god’s romantic advances. The god, who is clearly a creepy jerk, feels scorned and curses the girl. The girl can still see the future (her gift) but nobody will believe her prophecies (her curse).

We researchers and evaluators also have a gift. We can’t see the future, but through our methods we can measure the past and monitor the present. Then we can use that knowledge to project the future.

And like Cassandra we also have a curse. There is no guarantee that anyone will hear our words or believe what we share.

But unlike Cassandra, our curse is at least partially self-inflicted. We use the web to share our work in much the same way as we did in the late 90s. And we write reports almost as if the last 20 years never happened.

I believe we need a change, a monumental change. Not necessarily in our tools but in our mindsets.

Because the status quo is a path towards irrelevance.

The beginning pages of The Reporting Revolution.

The book is only $5 on Kindle ($10 in print), it’s a quick read and is packed with a lot of my best ideas around reporting. It also has a bunch of cartoons and reads more like a blog than a textbook. I’m proud of it and want to share it as widely as possible.

Buying the book also gets you an invite to a free webinar next month. Check out my post from the other day to learn more.