Item: Apple Keynote
Rating: 9
Author: Doug Cooke

Overall Satisfaction with Apple Keynote

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We primarily use Keynote to put together client presentations and have transitioned from using it on stand alone documents that we had to send around to collaborate on to using online to collaborate on documents across the organization. Online is a true t is a true game changer in that it enables simultaneous work on documents to save time and increase collaboration and alignment.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Enables the integration text, images and graphics extremely seamlessly
Allows realtime collaboration across teams
Allows fine tuned control over graphic elements, images and text to achieve superior design (relative to PPT or Slides)
Enables for presentation or for print equally well

Cons

Having to open the sidebar to control text sizes and graphic parameters is an extra step that also consumes valuable screen real estate. Integrating some of those (especially type size and color of type, fills, and lines) would be very helpful.
Certain bugs like the color palette never working the first time it is selected and an attempt is made to apply a color - it always takes two tries :(
Required software version updates occur with no warning whatsoever so you can be working on a collab Keynote doc (on a tight deadline) and a dialogue box pops up that says SW update required and you no longer have access to the document you had just been working on. This is a HUGE problem and a deal breaker. (it occurred less often recently though)

Return on Investment

+ seamless realtime collaboration builds alignment and saves time
+ Powerful software allows good control of design elements for superior results.
+ Export to PPT (and PDF) is often used to give clients native files they can work into their presentations. (though PPT always requires extra work)

Usability

Great in so many ways. The toolbar lacking direct access to many parameters, its 'clipping off icons when resizing the window reduces accessibility rather than resizing them to preserve access. The format bar takes up a lot of screen space. I would say the menu approach in general is simplified for novice users but requires more effort and clicks for power users.

Alternatives Considered

Microsoft Powerpoint, Google Slides, Miro and Adobe Illustrator CC

Simpler than PPT, more Powerful than Slides, better graphics and more pagination friendly than Miro, Simpler to use (and cheaper) than illustrator.

Key Insights

Do you think Apple Keynote delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Apple Keynote's feature set?

Yes

Did Apple Keynote live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of Apple Keynote go as expected?

I wasn't involved with the implementation phase

Would you buy Apple Keynote again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Miro, Google Slides

Likelihood to Recommend

If you are not in a PC/Windows based context (devices and co workers), and you have a consistent group of collaborators (with the same company emails) its the most intuitive, most powerful, and most flexible platform. Slides is more compatible across broad teams from different organizations and people including with consultants (work these days is extremely collaborative with all sorts of people so this is a opportunity for Keynote to improve.)

Comments

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Keynote - not perfect but the best in class.