The 'noise' can be reduced in myriad ways (below).ДЄbove: Examples of simpler ways to show the same data. 98 new members in the first quarter of 2007 would be a very significant fact for the club, but perhaps a declarative sentence on the slide rather than a title would be more appropriate.

The data being displayed is extremely simple, yet the eyes have to work pretty hard to get at the data. Tufte goes on to say that a '.happy consequence of an economy of means is a graceful richness of information, for small differences allow more differences.'ДЄbove: This is a fake 'Before' slide I made up rather quickly. 'What can be done with fewer is done in vain with more.' Tufte sums up the Occam's razor this way: Related to the smallest effective difference is Occam's razor, which both Tufte and the authors of The Universal Principles of Design point out. 'Make all visual distinctions as subtle as possible, but still clear and effective.' In Visual Explanations, Edward Tufte refers to an important principle in harmony with SNR called 'the smallest effective difference': In a nutshell, the authors put it this way:Д®very element in a design should be expressed to the extent necessary, but not beyond the extent necessary. can usually be removed with good results (assuming your company 'allows' you to). For example, lines in grids or tables can often be made quite thin, lightened, or even removed. In other words, if the item can be removed without compromising function, then strong consideration should be given to minimizing the element or removing it all together. that do not play a key role in support of the message. Degradation to the message can occur in many ways such as with the selection of inappropriate charts, using ambiguous labels and icons, or unnecessarily emphasizing items such as lines, shapes and symbols, etc. Note too that the baseline starts at 1000 (though it is hard to tell where the baseline is).Д®nsuring the highest possible signal-to-noise ratio means communicating (designing) clearly with as little degradation to the message as possible. The highest possible signal-to-noise ratio is desirable in design.ДЄbove: A couple of older slides (from a Steve Ballmer keynote in 2005) with rather low signal-to-noise ratios.ДЄbove: Even Steve Jobs can present simple data in a way that complicates rather than simplifies (or did the faux marble texture and 3D help illuminate?). The ratio of relevant to irrelevant information in a display. The authors sum up the signal-to-noise ratio this way: The SNR principle is borrowed from more technical fields such as radio communications and electronic communication in general, but the principle itself is applicable to design and communication problems in virtually any field. The principles are presented in alphabetical order, beginning with '80/20 Rule' and 'Accessibility,' and finishing 210 pages later with 'Uncertainty Principle' and 'Weakest Link.' Between the principles of 'Shaping' and 'Similarity' you will find a good summary of the 'Signal-to-Noise Ratio' (SNR). References are given for each principle for those who want to go deeper, but for a quick reference, this book can't be beat. Each of the 100 principles - most of them applicable to presentation design - is summarized with great clarity and with good visual examples in just two pages. The subtitle of the book pretty much sums it up: '100 Ways to Enhance Usability, Influence Perception, Increase Appeal, Make Better Design Decisions, and Teach Through Design.' Even trained designers will want this book somewhere on their shelf. This is a beautifully simple book and one that is immensely useful, a must for professionals and leaders from any discipline. One of the coolest, most useful books I have on my shelf is Universal Principles of Design.

Signal to noise ratio