If You Want To Do Federal Work Learn To Use PowerPoint
We are in the midst of a Critical Design Review. This is where we tell the client what we have done during detailed design. All presentations are done in PowerPoint, no exceptions. Whatever graphic, list, details, wording, etc… that you want to convey must fit on a PowerPoint slide.
We used UML during detailed design. It is difficult to portray any meaningful sequence diagrams or complex class diagrams in a PowerPoint. Other problems occur attempting to show a database design. How to portray the 100+ tables in use in a slide?
Secondary problem is the level of detail provided needs to be discussed at a business case level. This means talking about why this function/feature is of any interest to an end user, what is the benefit, etc… BUT be prepared to drop down to an absolute bare bones detail discussion on any relevant area of the design.
One of the long-term employees (that really doesn’t narrow things down much, most employees have been there at least 5 if not 10 years) showed me some presentations for previous projects. Yes, they all fit nicely onto slides. Yes, they are ugly. Yes, they remind you of 1950’s billboards ‘New’, ‘Improved’, ‘Zap’, ‘Zoom’, lightning bolts, you get the idea.