Dockside Cafe ordering
Before and after slide example with two matched columns
A before and after slide works when the two columns pair line for line, because an audience reads across rather than down and a mismatch shows up instantly. This one belongs to Dockside Cafe, a fictional cafe, and compares the same ordering process before and after a change in March.
What is on the slide
- Framing
- Dockside Cafe, timed across 40 lunch orders in March and the same 40 slot in May.
- Column headers
- Before, 11 min and After, 4 min.
- Rows 01 and 02
- Queue at the till to read an unreadable board, against ordering from a code on the table. A handwritten docket retyped into the till, against a docket printing in the kitchen with the table number.
- Rows 03 to 05
- A second queue to pay, against paying with the order. A name called over the noise, against a message to the phone. Five steps and eleven minutes, against three steps and four minutes.
When this is the right slide
Two matched columns of five rows suit a before and after slide when a single process changed and every step on the old side has a partner on the new side.
What to swap it for
Comparison: Stacked Before/After Panels. Swap to the stacked panels when the two sides are a narrative rather than a step list, and each one needs a paragraph instead of five matched rows.
What this slide shows
A title reads Ordering Lunch, with a one line framing sentence saying Dockside Cafe timed forty lunch orders in March and the same forty slot in May. Two columns sit below, headed Before, 11 min and After, 4 min, each holding five auto numbered rows that pair across. Row 01: a customer queues at the till to read a board that cannot be seen from the back of the queue, against the menu being a code on the table so the order starts before anyone stands up. Row 02: the order is written on a docket then typed into the till by the same person, against the order reaching the kitchen printed with the table number already on it. Row 03: payment is a second queue at the same till after the food has been called, against payment happening with the order so there is no second queue. Row 04: a name is called over the room noise and plates cool on the pass, against a message going to the phone that placed the order the moment the plate is up. Row 05 closes with five steps and eleven minutes against three steps and four minutes.
When this is the right slide
Use it when one process changed and the audience needs to see the change step by step, in a project closeout, an operations review, a case study or a sales deck describing what a customer moved away from. Five rows is the layout and also about the limit of what an audience will read across. It is the wrong slide when the change is a set of numbers rather than a set of steps, since a metric ledger with before, after and delta columns reads far faster than five sentences. It is also wrong when the before side would be a straw man: an audience that recognises the old process as unfairly described stops trusting the new one. If the story needs a narrative rather than a grid, stacked panels give each side a paragraph.
How to adapt it
First, write the pairs together rather than writing five before points and then five after points. Anything on the left with no partner on the right either did not change or was never a problem, and it should come off the slide. Second, put the headline figures in the column headers and repeat them in the last row, so the slide states its claim at the top and closes it at the bottom. Third, say how the measurement was made, including the sample size and the two periods. If the two periods are not comparable, for example a quiet week against a busy one, the honest move is to say so on the slide rather than letting someone find it in the appendix.
What makes this slide work
Every row on the left has a partner on the right
Queue at the till pairs with order from the table. Write and retype pairs with a docket that prints in the kitchen. Queue to pay pairs with paying at the same time as ordering. A name called over the noise pairs with a message to the phone. The last row pairs the totals. Reading row 03 across is a complete thought, which is what the paired layout is for.
The timing lives in the column headers
Before, 11 min and After, 4 min. Putting the two figures in the headers means every row underneath is read as part of that difference, and the audience never has to hunt for the summary. The same two numbers close the columns in row 05, so the claim is stated once at the top and proved once at the bottom.
The measurement is described, not assumed
The framing line says forty lunch orders in March and the same forty slot in May. That single sentence answers the two questions a sceptical reader has: how many, and were the two periods comparable. Without it, eleven minutes against four minutes is an assertion, and an audience that doubts the measurement will not discuss the change.
Questions people ask
How many rows should a before and after slide have?
Five is the practical limit for a paired layout, and this one takes exactly five a side. Beyond five the audience loses track of which row it is reading across. If the change has eight dimensions, pick the five that matter to this audience and put the rest in the written report, where a reader can take their time.
Does every before item need an after partner?
Yes. The layout pairs row one with row one and so on, so an unpaired item reads as an error. If something on the before side did not change, it is not part of this story. If something on the after side is new rather than a replacement, it belongs on a roadmap or a now and next slide instead.
How do you avoid a straw man before column?
Describe the old process as the people who ran it would describe it, and include the parts that worked. A before column made entirely of failures tells an experienced audience the comparison is not honest, and they will discount the after column as well. Naming the measurement and the sample size helps, because it shows the old way was actually observed.
Should a before and after slide show numbers or steps?
Steps on this layout, numbers on a different one. Five sentences a side describe a process; six metrics with a delta column describe a result. Many decks use both, with the process comparison first to explain what changed and the metric panel after to show what it produced. The two answer different questions.
When should this be split into two slides?
Split when the before side needs evidence of its own, such as a photograph or a queue chart, or when the after side is still partly a plan. A comparison slide should only compare two things that both exist. Where half the after column is scheduled rather than delivered, a now and next layout with dates is the honest choice.
How should this slide be presented out loud?
Read one row across, not one column down. Taking row 02 as a pair, the docket written then retyped against the docket printing in the kitchen, shows the audience how to read the whole slide in about ten seconds. Reading the left column first makes the room hold five points in memory before hearing any answer.
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