Using PowerPoint for Combined Low to High Technical Documentation

This is how I create low to highly detailed technical documentation, all in one file.

I love to use PowerPoint for designing and technically detailing a project. The slides are freeform and the provided shapes are easy to use.

Here is a very simplified example for a Web application. I am advancing it slide by slide.

On the first slide, I provide a site design for the customer. This indicates the pages that will be created and their flow. If I’ve already designed page mockups, I will screen-capture them, shrink them, and place them in the page rectangles for better visualization.

On the next slide, I start providing the technical details. These are for my own reference for when I create the site and also to show my boss what I have in mind. I may use more slides if I want to mention other details.

On the last slide, I have provided some notes for the DBA. This method allows the DBA to see what the application looks like but also focuses things on the databases. (To get the fading-out effect so the database parts “pop”, I used a white rectangle placed over everything else and I set the transparency to 40%. I then used "move to back"/"move to front" to get the database parts on top of this rectangle.)

You’ll notice when you go from page to page that detail is repeated, so it looks like the new parts are appearing over the existing parts. What I did was copy content from the previous slide onto the next slide and edit.

I’ve had fun with these presentations, it’s a nice creative outlet and I’m sure your boss, co-workers, and clients will appreciate them, too.