AI Lecture Redesign — Case Study

From Plain Text to Visual Clarity

A real MIT lecture with 8 slides — redesigned by Arty into a clear, engaging, student-friendly deck. Every word preserved, only the design improved.

📄 8 slides transformed 🎓 MIT OpenCourseWare 🤖 Style: Academic Lecture

Why This Deck Needs a Redesign

This lecture from MIT's "Infrastructure and Energy Technology Challenges" course covers the Food vs Fuel debate — a thought-provoking topic on biofuels, food security, and global trade. However, the original slides rely almost entirely on plain text and bullet points, which creates several problems for student learning:

Arty's redesign follows evidence-based lecture design principles: one idea per slide, heading as takeaway, short keyword guide-posts instead of full sentences, and visual metaphors to reinforce each concept — all while keeping the original content untouched.

Original lecture from MIT OpenCourseWare — 11.165/11.477, Fall 2011, Professor Karen R. Polenske. Used under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
1

Title Slide — Food Versus Fuel?

The original title slide is plain text on a default template. The redesign introduces a visual metaphor and clear typographic hierarchy so the topic registers at a glance.

Before
Before: Original title slide — plain text on default PowerPoint template
Default template, small text, no visual hook
After
After: Redesigned title slide with visual metaphor and clear typography
Clear title hierarchy, topic-relevant visual, institutional credit preserved
2

Rising Food Prices

The original only has a copyright-removal placeholder with no visuals. The redesign provides a structured layout that frames the referenced content and makes the external source actionable.

Before
Before: Original slide 2 — copyright placeholder text
Plain text placeholder, no visual context
After
After: Redesigned slide 2 with structured reference layout
Visual framing, clear source reference, readable hierarchy
3

Reasons Behind Rising Food Prices

Another copyright-removed slide. The redesign transforms the reference into a visually structured card that guides students to the external resource with clear context.

Before
Before: Original slide 3 — reasons behind food prices, text only
Identical layout to slide 2, no differentiation
After
After: Redesigned slide 3 with visual structure
Distinct visual treatment, content-aware layout
4

Differences Around the World

The original references global wheat trade data but shows only a text description. The redesign creates visual context that helps students grasp the global scale before visiting the source.

Before
Before: Original slide 4 — global wheat trade text reference
Text-only reference to global data
After
After: Redesigned slide 4 with global visual context
Visual framing of global concept, clear source guidance
5

Biofuels

Two discussion questions buried in bullet-point text. The redesign separates each question visually and adds icons to help students quickly identify what they need to prepare for class discussion.

Before
Before: Original slide 5 — biofuel discussion questions as bullets
Two long questions in small bullet text
After
After: Redesigned slide 5 with visually separated discussion questions
Each question gets its own visual space, icons for quick scanning
6

Food Security

The original presents "food security" as a flat list of sub-bullets. The redesign structures the factors into visual categories, making the relationship between biofuel production and food security immediately clear.

Before
Before: Original slide 6 — food security factors as nested bullets
Nested bullets, no visual differentiation between concepts
After
After: Redesigned slide 6 with structured food security factors
Factors organized visually, clear conceptual grouping
7

Biofuel and Food Security

The most text-heavy slide — three multi-line discussion questions. The redesign breaks them into distinct visual blocks with clear numbering, so students can prepare each question independently.

Before
Before: Original slide 7 — dense discussion questions
Wall of text — three complex questions with sub-points
After
After: Redesigned slide 7 with structured discussion framework
Numbered discussion blocks, visual separation, scannable at a glance
8

Biofuel in Perspective

The closing slide has three reflective questions in plain text. The redesign uses visual emphasis to make students pause and think — turning a forgettable ending into a memorable takeaway.

Before
Before: Original slide 8 — plain reflective questions
Three questions in small text, no visual weight
After
After: Redesigned slide 8 with impactful closing layout
Visual emphasis on key reflection points, memorable closing

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