On Monday, February 24, 2025, the National Council of Nonprofits shared a timeline of actions they had taken in January and February.
I love everything about this, including that it’s a graphic.
When we have a lot to say, we often rely on written explanations. But words alone don’t always provide the clarity we need. Words alone are often not memorable. Our missions depend on people understanding and retaining our message.
The Power of Creating Graphics
In my instructional design work, I’ve leaned on an important principle:
If I can draw it, I can teach it. And the opposite is also true:
If I can’t draw it—or somehow represent it graphically—something is either missing or in conflict with something else.
Take a recent challenge: trying to figure out worker-related laws and Native nonprofits. I’ve produced five versions of the graphic below, each iteration refining key details—like the role of tribal land or who is responsible for establishing the nonprofit. The process of trying to represent the law in a simple graphic has led to a lengthy conversation that is ongoing as we try to nail down exactly who has jurisdiction where.
This is a draft and may or may not represent our final version. Stay tuned!
Or consider a procurement handbook that was leading people around the world to do things wrong, at least according to an NGO’s finance office in the U.S. We studied the handbook and tried to draw the workflow. Several contradictory instructions and multiple drafts later, we finally landed on a visual that accurately documented expectations.
Even without reading the words contained in the workflow, you can imagine all of the places where people in various countries and cultures might follow the wrong path.
This is the first power of graphics: the act of creating them helps refine our own understanding.
The Power of Using Graphics
Once we create a graphic, it also becomes a more effective tool for others. For example, at my daughter’s graduation in Northfield, Minnesota, I saw this parking sign:
City planners could have written this:
“To park using back-in only reverse angle parking, first signal right to indicate your intention to park. Then, pull forward past the parking space and stop, positioning your vehicle at an angle for an easy reverse. Finally, shift into reverse and back into the space, aligning your vehicle within the marked lines.”
But they didn’t, thank goodness. Instead, they showed it.
We can turn to brain science to understand why this is effective.
The Brain Science Behind Visuals
Effective use of graphics is particularly important in a world of limited time and bandwidth. Visuals aren’t just more engaging—they’re more efficient.
Cognitive research supports why visuals work so well. Paul Kirschner and Mirjam Neelen, in Evidence-Informed Learning Design, explain:
“If information is offered in two different ways, it enables you to access more working memory capacity.”
Why? Because our brains process information through two channels—visual and verbal—and they work together.
- Verbal information is processed sequentially—one word after another.
- Visual information is processed synchronously—we can see the big picture and the details all at once.
Graphically said:
The second power of graphics is that they don’t just make things prettier. The effective use of graphics makes information easier to process, understand, and remember. When we offer the right combination of words and graphics, we get what learning experts call “double barreled learning.”
The theory behind “double barreled learning.”
Source: 3-Star Learning Experiences
One of my favorite thinkers on learning, Oliver Caviglioli, sums it up in two words: Visual Clarity.
Next time you’re struggling to explain something complex, ask yourself:
Can I draw this? Can I capture this information in a graphic?
Because if you can draw it, you can teach it. And if you can teach it visually, more people will understand it.
Our world could use more understanding around now.