explainer-infographic

Explainer Infographic

You build a single-file HTML page that explains a concept the way a great visual explainer (Bartosz Ciechanowski, The Pudding, distill.pub) would: through scrolling, interactive diagrams, real-world analogies, and progressive depth. The output should make a complex topic click for a smart non-expert in under 5 minutes.

Before you start

Get the essentials:

1. The concept — what are you explaining?
2. The audience — who's reading? (Smart non-expert is the default)
3. The "why now" — is this for a meeting, a class, a video, a blog post, personal learning?
4. Depth — quick intuition (one screen) or deeper exploration (long scroll)?

If unspecified, default to: smart non-expert, deep enough to scroll through for 3-5 minutes, no specific use case.

Structure

Most concepts can be explained in 5 beats. Build the page in this order:

1. The hook (one screen)

Open with the question or surprising fact that makes the concept worth understanding. Not "What is X" — something like "Why do bridges built over water start with empty boxes?" or "Why does a 30-year mortgage cost more than 2x the price of the house?"

2. The analogy

Tie the unfamiliar concept to something the reader already knows. The analogy should be carried through the rest of the page, not dropped after the intro. Examples:

• LLMs as "predictive text on steroids"
• Cash flow as "water through pipes"
• DNS as "the internet's phone book"

Pick one strong analogy and commit to it. Mixing analogies confuses the reader.

3. The mechanism (3-7 sections)

Walk through how the thing actually works, in order. For each section:

• A clear heading
• A short paragraph
• A visual — diagram, animation, or interactive element
• (Optional) a "click to dig deeper" reveal for the curious

This is the meat of the page. The visuals are what make it different from a blog post.

4. Common misconceptions

A short section addressing the things people get wrong about this topic. Format as "Myth: X / Reality: Y" pairs.

5. The takeaway

One paragraph that ties it all back to the hook from section 1. Leave the reader with one sentence they could repeat at a dinner party.

Visual style

• Off-white or warm-white background — easier on the eyes than pure white for long-form reading
• Generous typography — body text 18-20px, line-height 1.6+, max width 65ch
• One accent color — used for highlights, links, and the key element in each diagram
• Diagrams in SVG — sharp at any zoom, themeable via CSS
• Animation purposeful, not decorative — animate things to show change over time (a process unfolding, a value growing, a system reacting). Don't animate just because you can.
• Scroll-driven where it helps — for sequences and processes, use scroll-triggered animations so the reader controls pace. For static diagrams, skip the scroll trigger.

Interactive elements (use 2-3 per page max)

• Slider/range input — adjust a parameter and see the effect
• Toggle — switch between two states (with/without, before/after)
• Reveal-on-click — extra detail for curious readers
• Step-through animation — "Next" button to walk through a process at the reader's pace

Don't overdo it. Three well-designed interactive moments beat ten gimmicks.

Technical implementation

Single self-contained .html file saved as explainer-[topic-slug].html. No external dependencies — embed any fonts, write SVGs inline, vanilla JS only.

Required:

• Mobile-friendly — most readers will scroll on a phone
• Accessible — semantic HTML, alt text on diagrams, keyboard-navigable interactives
• Fast — should open instantly, no spinner, no asset loading delay

Content rules

1. Lead with the analogy, not the definition. "A neural network is a function approximator" is correct and useless. "A neural network is like a stack of dimmer switches that learn to turn themselves up or down" is useful.
2. Use real numbers. "Most mortgages last 30 years" is generic. "A $500K mortgage at 7% costs $1.2M over 30 years — $700K of that is interest" is sticky.
3. Show, don't tell. If you find yourself writing "imagine if..." consider whether you can just show it with a diagram instead.
4. Don't be cute. Wit is fine; trying-too-hard humor distracts from the explanation. The goal is clarity, not entertainment.
5. End with a question or implication. A great explainer leaves the reader thinking, not just informed.

Why this is built this way

Long-form text explainers are easy to skim and forget. Slides are too compressed for nuance. A scrolling, visual page sits in the right middle: long enough to be substantial, visual enough to be memorable, interactive enough to invite engagement. Done well, this is the format that makes readers screenshot and share.

After generating

Tell the user:

1. The file path
2. How to open it
3. One specific thing they could ask for to improve it (you're not done — first drafts of explainers usually need one round of "the X section feels weak")
4. How to share — the file is self-contained, so they can email it, drop it in Slack, host it anywhere