The options for graphical abuse in PowerPoint are virtually limitless, but the simple and harmless arrow seems to present a universally troublesome problem. There are many forms of arrow abuse that should be avoided in effective visual communications. I have attempted to illustrate some of them here. (You may click on any slide to see a larger version.)

I looked at over 200 presentations in an attempt to identify the “good, the bad and the ugly” in the use of arrows to illustrate both simple and complex concepts. I regret that I found only one slide that made interesting and effective use of arrows.

This slide illustrates a classic case of arrow abuse: the Infinite Loop, also referred to as Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

The graphic is probably intended to show that State Proposition 98 Funding, Public/Private Partnerships and Local Funds somehow work together. The graphic, unfortunately tells a slightly different story: State Proposition 98 Funding somehow causes or affects Public/Private Partnerships which cause or affect Local Funds which in turn affect State Proposition 98 Funding, etc. etc, ad infinitum. It is interesting that the arrows are counter-clockwise, and one wonders if they would be reversed in the Southern Hemisphere.

The next slide illustrates an altogether different arrow phenomenon: Chaos Theory.

These arrows are not bound by any spatial or contextual restraints. Some of the arrows point from the text on the left side of the slide to the diagram on the right. Other arrows either point off of the slide to some imaginary landscape, or in other cases, point back into the slide from that same imaginary landscape. The designer of this slide was undoubtedly paid by the arrow.

Some slides are rather more freeform in their use of arrows.

Like the arrows on the previous slide, the arrows on this slide are also not bound by convention. They are like the unruly children of the wealthy, left unsupervised (and sadly, unloved) to point in whatever direction suits them, consequences be damned. “What goes in?” “What comes out?” “What the @#!$.”

The slide below is illustrative of the Map of the World school of arrow thought.

The arrows are intended to illustrate every possible iteration and outcome of an extremely complex concept that probably takes several hours to explain. I am particularly worried about the reference to “robot deployers.” I was certain that Yoda helped Chewbacca and the other Wookies defeat the robot deployers in Star Wars, Episode III.

I include the next slide to point out that sometimes arrows and other graphical elements, and in fact entire slides, are devoted to illustrating incredibly obvious and simple concepts that require no explanation.

When I saw this slide, my only thought was, “duh!” Every schoolchild is familiar with the transitional state behavior of the discrete-time Markov of a CPU.

And finally, I include two examples of simple and effective use of arrows.

This slide is truly innovative. Instead of flat, static block diagrams or charts, it combines eye-catching images with nicely rendered, 3-D arrows that were clearly custom designed for the slide. It may not seem like much, but this is a breakthrough in visual communications.

I wanted also to include a slide that was stark in its simplicity, employing a single arrow to illustrate a single, simple concept. I could not however find such a slide, so I created one:

You may wonder why I have devoted so much energy to the discussion of using arrows in visual communications. I truly believe that slide designers are not thinking about the story their slides are telling. There are fundamental problems with the first four slides above. Each fails to tell its story effectively, because the graphical elements have been misused and abused. A little thought and common sense could have made any of these slides more useful.