In the 20th century, we confused reading words with learning. Learning is a multisensory, both-sides-of-the-brain experience. Pictures unlock the imagination. Yet, most books do not contain a single illustration.

Cognitive research abounds on the value of visuals in learning, but this is mostly talk. One highly regarded but misguided guru maintains a Web site on usability that contains not one graphic. E-learning lessons abound with garish, meaningless clip art.

Consider this: You can understand a picture in a glance, but a block of text takes time to analyze. Why, in a world that is increasingly concerned with speed, do we force learners to read words that they must repeat in their heads? We're running out of time for that.

Use graphics to instruct customers.

1. Help customers learn Problem: Your increasingly complex products bristle with new features. Customers become frustrated if they can't easily learn to use them, but they refuse to read the manual. Call centers are clogged with help requests, and the sales force ends up teaching customers how to set up and use the products.

Solution: Enable customers to learn for themselves. Replace the manual with visually compelling explanations.

Conceptual map explains complex interactions.

2. Improve instructional effectiveness Problem: Modern books use the same format, page numbering, margins, and oceans of unbroken text first produced by Italian publishers 500 years ago. Antiquated formatting doubles the time it takes most of us to understand printed material.

Solution: Supplement the words with appropriate pictures to accelerate understanding. Relevant graphics improves comprehension 80 percent.

Meeting murals, transferred to the Web, enable particpants to share what they learned.

3. Accelerate decision-making Problem: A county board of supervisors appointed a task force to improve the mental health services provided by numerous distinct agencies. Six weeks later, the board was stymied by the complexity of the situation. No one had the big picture.

Solution: A conceptual map captured the relevant data and put everyone on the same page. Bottlenecks and missed connections were immediately apparent. Instead of the usual 60-page report, the map enabled the board to see the problem immediately.

4. Leverage your meetings Problem: People go to TechLearn to gather information on best practices in e-learning, but they find it nearly impossible to transfer what they learned to their colleagues.

Solution: TechLearn recruits a visual journalist who interprets each major session graphically as it unfolds. The images are projected onto a video screen for all to see and focuses attention on the flow of the presentation. Back home, participants walk their colleagues through the graphics to explain both the flow and the content of the TechLearn sessions.

Seeing is believing Graphics show relationships and unravel complex situations. They speak the universal language of symbols and icons to promote understanding among people of different cultures and professions. Combining text and graphics accelerates learning.