Living large: "Takahashi Method" uses king-sized text as a visual In the Japanese language Nikkei newspaper yesterday I stumbled upon an interesting article featuring stories on people who have started small grassroots movements — however unintentional — by doing something in a unique way. One such person is Mr. Masayoshi Takahashi who has gotten a lot of people interested in his unique way of presenting, now labeled the "Takahashi Method." Takahashi uses only text in his slides. Why this method? Takahashi is a computer programmer who did not have software like PowerPoint (the slide above says "I don't have PowerPoint"). Is the method applicable? The slides used in my presentations are usually a mix of full-screen, high-quality photos, some charts/graphs, and slides with single words, short phrases, or short quotations. You can see all the slides here used by Takahashi in his recent presentation on "The Takahashi Method." (Left) "The Takahashi Method" title slide. (Left) "Easy to see." (Left) "Four" main points he'd like to discuss.
Elements of Communication, Part 1 When considering or working to create interactive design, it is useful, I think, to examine the gulf of communication that exists between direct, face-to-face, truly interactive communication and impersonal attempts at communication on a Web page. But in order to appreciate the magnitude of this difference in effectiveness it is far better to examine the many layers of sensation and interaction as they apply to each context, from personal, face-to-face contact to impersonal text or buttons on a page. Think about the differences in the fullness and effectiveness of communication between: having a face–to–face conversation with someone in a group, and… having a face–to–face conversation with one person, and… watching someone speak in-person, and… watching someone speak on video/TV, and… listening to someone speak directly to you (phone or recording), and… hearing someone speak, and… reading a letter/message written to you, and… reading someone’s words written to no one in particular