The Back of the Napkin

8Feb/090

thebackofthenapkin I'd like to post a recommendation on this book that a friend of mine introduced to me!

Author: Dan Roam

Title: The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures

This book illustrates (pardon the pun) the effectiveness of presenting with images. Of course, we already do that all the time! When you want to present some numbers, a bar chart appears! If you want to present growth, a multiple variable point graph would suffice! You get the idea.

The real challenge though, is to make it second nature to yourself. Bar and pie charts can be done with computers and software, but what about everything else? Would you be able to solve your problems by laying out all the information without getting confused? Would you be able to present your business model with a pen and a napkin?

Simplify, and make it easy for people to understand!

I think the concept is pretty interesting, and it's a fast read. First portion is a little draggy though, cos it speaks of how eyes work and how we perceive things without getting confused despite the huge amount of information being absorbed all the time.

But later on, some very real concept tools are given, and with a little bit of practice, I'm sure I'll be a master of visual thinking in no time!