Do you drag? The importance of draggability

I make my living on an iPad. I rely on apps designed for illuminating, emphasizing, and elucidating complex sales stories. Since the iPad’s introduction back in 2010, I have watched my audiences’ reactions to better understand what they’re responding to. I specifically look for little nods, smiles, and the inevitable snort of approval that comes with delight. I have found that one of the most effective elements is also one of the most simple: draggability.

Draggability is when an element on the screen can be moved with your finger to make a point. Draggability is not a traditional presentation attribute. It is not yet a feature in PowerPoint or Keynote. It requires a multi-touch device. And it creates a moment when this device mimics a classic moment from real life.

Haven’t we all been in a situation when someone is making a point at a dinner table and they grab salt and pepper shakers and say, “This salt represents the Texas Book Depository Building, and this pepper represents the Presidential Motorcade,” and with these props, they are suddenly able to bring more clarity to the point … that there only could have been one gunman.

With draggability, it is suddenly possible to take static infographics and interact with them — connecting with your audience in a powerful new way.

Here are five examples of draggability across a number of different use cases:

1. Amazing cross sections: X-ray vision would be nice, but this might just be the next best thing. Draggability is great for presentations that are looking to explain complex products or machinery. Simply drag off the casing of the windmill to reveal the component pieces, all of which can be pulled apart to demonstrate how it works.

2. Moveable infographics: Quadrant Maps and Venn Diagrams are a presentation standard. However, they become far more accessible when constructed in front of an audience rather than just being presented statically. This quadrant map was made for an advertising agency to explain the new media landscape. Rather than just presenting it, the executive asked his audience which quadrant they thought each media type belonged in. By talking through each element, the audience became far more invested, and a normal presentation was transformed into a meaningful conversation.

3. Content and context: Google Image Search is God’s gift to presentation making. Type in a few words, and the history of the visual world instantly becomes your stock image library. In this example, another advertising agency was using a stack of vintage book covers to evoke the genre of adventure literature, a key component for a pitch. The act of revealing each cover made this idea come to life and turned a series of found images into a powerful storytelling moment.

4. Eye charts and information overload: One sure way to lose an audience’s attention is by putting way too much information on a page. For financial service companies that can show four separate charts on a single slide, the problem is one of focus. Where is the viewer supposed to look? In this demonstration, four draggable charts at the bottom of the page can be engaged one at a time and enlarged with just a pinch. The result is clean design, with a clear hierarchy, explained in the order and at the pace the presenter chooses.

5. Moveable mission statement: If you’ve ever written a mission statement, you know that every single word has meaning. The ability to elucidate the promise that an entire company can deliver on, allows for a more far more nuanced explanation of its significance. Though it’s unlikely that any amount of interactivity could have helped with the example below.

Josh Koppel is founder and Chief Creative Officer of ScrollMotion, a company that provides cloud-based solutions for creating, distributing, managing, and using interactive apps for mobile devices.