Over the last year, we’ve really been trying to up our game when it comes to report writing. Why? We want our evaluations to be meaningful and promote further understanding. Long reports with page after page of results can leave stakeholders wondering what it all means.
We’ve been really inspired by the work of folks like Stephanie Evergreen, Nancy Duarte and others who are asking the same questions.
Here are just a few 2014 reports that make our eyes happy (and the content is good too):
- Demolished: The End of Chicago’s Public Housing (NPR) – This is not a research report; it is an interactive experience! This point and click story conveys information in such an interactive and digestible way that we couldn’t help but read it to the end. What a great way to tell a story.
- Bringing the City Alive: A Survey of Arts in the GTA (Toronto Arts Foundation/Leger) – We especially appreciate the use of vivid photographs and short bursts of text along with graphs to bring the findings to life.
- Challenges and Approaches to Meeting Water Quality Standards (Idaho Legislature) – This evaluation report on water standards presents evaluation data is a newsy style, it makes you wonder if you’re reading a magazine. The white space is so calming and reminds us all that even long reports can still be readable.