Martin Eppler
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Prof. Dr.
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Eppler
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Martin
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martin.eppler@unisg.ch
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+41 71 224 2297
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Slip-Sliding-Away: A Review of the Literature on the Constraining Qualities of PowerPoint

2015-09-01 , Kernbach, Sebastian , Bresciani, Sabrina , Eppler, Martin J.

PowerPoint is a dominant communication tool in business and education. It allows for creating professional-looking presentations easily, but without understanding its constraining qualities it can be used inappropriately. Therefore we conducted a systematic literature review structuring the literature on PowerPoint in three chronological phases (Early Criticism, Heated Debate, and Scientific Take-Off) and identifying 18 constraining qualities classified into three categories: cognitive, emotional, and social. This article provides implications for educators' and practitioners' use (and nonuse) of PowerPoint through synthesis and description of such constraining qualities. Directions for future research are developed by identifying theoretical gaps in literature on PowerPoint.

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Does method matter? An experiment on collaborative business model idea generation in teams

2012-09 , Eppler, Martin J. , Hoffmann, Friederike

The development of new business models presents a critical and demanding task for organizations. Among other things, the task requires effective divergent and convergent group processes. A growing body of theoretical literature and empirical evidence shows that artifacts can support collaboration, creativity, and innovation in groups. Such artifacts include visual templates, physical objects, and sketches. Based on existing theories on idea generation and boundary objects, this proposal explains how artifacts can facilitate the development of new business model ideas in teams. Specifically, this paper hypothesizes that artifacts have an impact on perceived group collaboration, perceived creativity, and the decision to adopt a new business model idea. The model was tested with an initial experimental study with managers who were asked to develop innovative business models for a daily newspaper, working under one of three different conditions. The subjects worked in groups and were assigned to either: (1) an empty PowerPoint slide (control group); (2) physical objects combined with sketching; or (3) a visual business model template in a software environment. The results of this pilot study indicate that using a digital visual business model template significantly increases perceived collaboration and actually decreases perceived creativity and the willingness to adopt the business model idea generated. Physical objects combined with sketching do not yield results distinct from the control condition of filling out an empty slide. These results provide initial empirical evidence that artifacts have the power to shape the group process of developing new business models, and that the proposed model can capture relevant dimensions of how they affect such a process.

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Navicons for collaboration: Navigating and augmenting discussions through visual annotations

2015-07-23 , Eppler, Martin J. , Hoffmann, Michael H.G. , Kernbach, Sebastian

As discussions move online, we need means that compensate for what we take for granted in face-to-face meetings: voice modulation, mimics, or gestures. There are three functions of these ‘metadiscoursive' expressions: 1) to navigate conversations and to direct the attention of our interlocutors, deciding what to discuss, reviewing what has been said, or how things are framed 2) to signal attitudes such as agreement or disagreement, or the level of certainty or commitment and 3) to annotate (visual) content with comments. These functions are crucial for the quality of discussions and can benefit from information visualization. To do this, we propose a classification of navigational moves and attitudes and their visual representation in form of "Navicons" and "Atticons". These icons help to improve the quality of online or face to face discussions, to plan conversations in advance, or to analyze past discussions. An example and outlook conclude the paper.

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The Geography of (Visual) Thought : The Effect of Culture on the Reception of Visual Communication

2011-12-02 , Bresciani, Sabrina , Eppler, Martin J. , Kaul, Asha , Ylinen, Riina

Visual communication is particularly useful in inter-cultural contexts for its ability to overcome linguistic barriers, leveraging the universal meaning of symbols, pictures and metaphors. Yet much is still unknown regarding the effectiveness of visual communication in different cultures. Few scholars have provided evidence of differences in the perception of visualization, caused by differences in traditions and thought patterns between Asia and the western world (Segall et al. 1966; Nisbett 2003; Pattanaik 2008). Beyond cultural dimensions, we propose an innovative theoretical approach by extending the concept of the Geography of Thought (Nisbett 2003) to conceptual visualization. A model is proposed with culture (East and West) as a moderating variable on the effectiveness of communication formats (text versus conceptual visualization). The model is tested with a cross-cultural experiment, comparing the attitude of subjects exposed to a business strategy expressed in a text format (control group) or in two types of conceptual visual formats, one more suitable for Westerners and one for Asians. The results from 240 professionals in Europe (Switzerland and Finland) and India provide full validation of the proposed model. Visualization is more beneficial than text in all cultures, and when a culturally appropriate visualization is used, its effects are enhanced.

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Visualization in Management: From Communication to Collaboration. A Response to Zhang

2013-10-01 , Eppler, Martin J. , Bresciani, Sabrina

The benefits of visualization are starting to be exploited in the field of management. Beyond cognitive and communicative advantages, this view point article highlights how visualization can enhance collaborative activities in organizations. Recent trends in management indicate that the activity of visualizing can be as important as the pictures that are generated. Qualitative visualizations such as conceptual diagrams, metaphors or sketches are used as collaboration catalysts to facilitate a variety of tasks, from idea generation to decision making and planning. The article derives future research avenues in this promising and interdisciplinary field of inquiry, including the impact of immersive worlds, electronic sketches or multi-user interfaces for collaborative managerial tasks.

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The Benefits of Synchronous Collaborative Information Visualization: Evidence from an Experimental Evaluation

2009-11-01 , Bresciani, Sabrina , Eppler, Martin J.

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Knowledge Visualization for Social Entrepreneurs

2013-07-16 , Bresciani, Sabrina , Eppler, Martin J.

Social entrepreneurship is an emerging field which has the power to change the way we do business and resolve societal challenges. Visualization has not yet been systematically applied to support social entrepreneurs in creating, growing and scaling their ventures. We thus propose a framework for the use of knowledge visualization in the creation and development of social enterprises. We posit that each phase of the social venturing process requires a different knowledge visualization method. These diverse types of (interactive) graphic representations help social entrepreneurs cope with resource constraints and interact with a great variety of stakeholders. In this contribution we thus show that knowledge visualization can provide versatile and inexpensive ways to augment social entrepreneurs' activities systematically.

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Publication

Does method matter? : An experiment on collaborative business model idea generation in teams

2012-09 , Eppler, Martin J. , Hoffmann, Friederike

The development of new business models presents a critical and demanding task for organizations. Among other things, the task requires effective divergent and convergent group processes. A growing body of theoretical literature and empirical evidence shows that artifacts can support collaboration, creativity, and innovation in groups. Such artifacts include visual templates, physical objects, and sketches. Based on existing theories on idea generation and boundary objects, this proposal explains how artifacts can facilitate the development of new business model ideas in teams. Specifically, this paper hypothesizes that artifacts have an impact on perceived group collaboration, perceived creativity, and the decision to adopt a new business model idea. The model was tested with an initial experimental study with managers who were asked to develop innovative business models for a daily newspaper, working under one of three different conditions. The subjects worked in groups and were assigned to either: (1) an empty PowerPoint slide (control group); (2) physical objects combined with sketching; or (3) a visual business model template in a software environment. The results of this pilot study indicate that using a digital visual business model template significantly increases perceived collaboration and actually decreases perceived creativity and the willingness to adopt the business model idea generated. Physical objects combined with sketching do not yield results distinct from the control condition of filling out an empty slide. These results provide initial empirical evidence that artifacts have the power to shape the group process of developing new business models, and that the proposed model can capture relevant dimensions of how they affect such a process.

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Publication

Facilitating Knowledge Communication through Joint Interactive Visualization

2004-07-01 , Eppler, Martin J.

This paper presents further research findings on the use of software-based, collaborative visual communication tools for the transfer and creation of professional knowledge in organizational decision making contexts. The paper begins by describing typical knowledge communication situations and summarizes dominating problems in these contexts. It then reports on the real-life experiences in using three visual knowledge communication tools, namely the OnTrack visual protocol tool, the Parameter Ruler application, and the Synergy Map. The application experiences with these tools in four companies show that they can reduce some of the discussed problems. Their main benefits are focus, coordination, documentation, consistency, accountability and traceability. Their major improvement areas are accessibility and flexibility. Implications for further research and for further tool developments are highlighted.

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Paths to Success : A Sketch-based Creativity Technique for Individuals and Teams

2012-07-11 , Eppler, Martin J. , Pfister, Roland

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