What are infographics?
Infographics present information visually and succinctly. Infographics integrate design, writing, and analysis with the bulk of the information you want to convey. In an age of information overload, infographics are a compelling communication medium.
What are the benefits of using infographics?
We are naturally inclined to “snackable” content. Think about Twitter, snap chats, haikus, memes and in recent years, microlearning. Infographics are eye-catching; they combine images, colours, movement, and they present contents that catch our attention. In the same vein, using infographics in your training room will allow your learners to scan information before reading your material in more detail.
Infographics force you to extract the essential features of your lesson or course, and similarly, they can encourage learners to summarise the information they’ve learned.
Additionally, infographics are engaging, creative, and are easily shareable.
Infographics are used in a learning environment in a variety of formats such as:
- Cheat sheets and reference materials
- Process flow- step by step guide
- Learning materials, participant workbook imagery
- Slide decks
- Flipcharts – instructions, recaps and overview.
When utilising infographics in the learning environment, be sure to check in with learners by asking the following questions.
- Why is this infographic useful to me?
- What is the purpose of the visuals (charts, maps, drawings, etc) in this document?
- Is the text important for me to understand this infographic? Why?
- How can I evaluate this infographic? What does it do well? Where could it be improved?
- What information am I learning thanks to this infographic?
- Is this infographic helping me learn? How? Why?
Why use infographics? Won’t stock photos meet the need?
Here are four reasons to use infographics when communicating or training employees.
1. Offers a visual step-by-step task guide.
Learning complicated tasks that involve several different steps can be challenging, even if you use bullet-point lists to break it down to its most basic components. An infographic offers you the power to make it more memorable and engaging by incorporating a visual element. For example, you can include a picture that relates to each step, such as an image of an employee removing a part from a piece of equipment when you are illustrating a repair process. This is particularly useful for learners who are less likely to remember text-based walkthroughs.
2. Simplifies complex concepts or ideas.
More involved concepts or ideas that have a variety of different sub-topics are ideally suited for learning infographics. This is because an infographic simplifies and distils the information down to easily digestible pieces. It also has the power to grab your learners’ attention, which prompts them to engage and interact with the eLearning content in a more meaningful way. You can create colourful charts or graphs that highlight trends or include pictures that showcase a specific detail. For example, you can include picture bubbles to focus on the inner mechanisms of equipment.
3. Increases knowledge retention.
One of the most significant advantages of using infographics in training is that it enhances knowledge retention and recall. Employees remember visually compelling charts, images, and other infographic elements much more effectively than text-based online content. It also offers them a quick overview of the topic, which means that they don’t have to read through a paragraph and search for the need-to-know information.
4. Engages distracted learners
There are a variety of reasons why your employees might be distracted during a workshop. It might be that they have a heavy workload or are dealing with tight deadlines. Whatever the case is, an infographic can help them focus on critical information and not waste a moment of their time. It also features eye-catching visuals that command their attention. They may even pass it along to other members of your staff, who will also benefit from the compelling imagery and condensed information. A well-crafted infographic has the power to go viral within your organisation, even if it features information that it is typically dry or dull, such as compliance online training highlights.
5 benefits to using infographics
Want to know more? Here are some further readings
Brain Pickings, How to be an educated consumer of infographics
TedTalk, The beauty of data visualisation
Justin Beegle, Infographics for dummies
Randy Krum, Cool infographics
How do you use infographics in your training materials? Tell us in the comments below.
Facilitated Training is pleased to confirm that training materials, references and slide decks utilise infographics as a standard tool to increase learner retention and engagement.
Check out examples of our training materials here:
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