UC Irvine — Information & Computer Science — ICS 139W — David G. Kay

Changing the System: Peer Review Guidelines for the Proposal Slides

As you read and comment on each set of slides, keep in mind the purpose and audience (that is, to convince decision-makers to support the proposed changes).

  1. Review the author's slides, making written comments on these issues:

    1. Content and Organization

      1. Do the slides "walk the reader through" the main points of the proposal? Are there major points of the proposal that are not reflected in the slides? Do they seem to be paced well through the whole presentation?

      2. Is each slide adequately identified, for example with a title, so that its place in the presentation is clear?

      3. If a slide uses bullet points, is parallelism observed?

      4. Is the wording crisp, clear, and concise?

      5. Do you think the presentation will fit inside the five-minute limit?

    2. Design

      1. Are the slides too crowded or too sparse?

      2. Are they easy to read at a glance, from a distance? (Is there too much text? Are the graphics too small?)

      3. Does every pixel pay its way?

        1. Does the color, if used, convey better information than monochrome or gray-scale?

        2. If a background pattern is used, does it interfere with reading the foreground?

        3. If there are graphics or screen shots, do they help make the point effectively? Can the back row of the audience read the important parts of these illustrations?

    3. Typography

      1. Is the type size appropriate?

      2. Are the other typography guidelines observed?