When I was hired be NEI to create a class to replace the hopelessly outdated computer quarter (still teaching big iron when micos were clearly the new reality) I worked with a very talented teacher and we basically were given a clean sheet.
As we worked to create curricula we sorted through textbooks and brainstormed as to what the lectures should be and how we could get the big ideas across in only a single quarter. We knew what was being taught in the lower classes and worked to build on those textbooks and lectures.
One of the principles was to try and make the material engaging. It does nobody any good if the material is not absorbed because the student sleeps through it.
When I was working through the connectogram tutorials I saw a paper that hit me like a bolt from the blue - it encapsulated many of the principles that Steve and I had set as goals in creating our instructional material. The concepts transcend the scope of the material being presented (genetic data) and cover the general presentation of graphical material.
If you see your job as a multi-media presenter perhaps you will see the ideas presented below as useful.
http://circos.ca/documentation/course/visualizing-genomic-data.pdf