What people complain about in Powerpoint
9 reported problems name Powerpoint as what the person is currently using. Below is what they said was missing, and what they resorted to instead.
- Complaints
- 9
- Avg severity
- 2.9/5
- Would pay to fix
- 0
- Industries
- 4
What they wish it did
Capabilities people described needing that Powerpoint does not give them, taken from the highest-scoring problems first. These are individual accounts written in each person’s own terms, so two entries may describe the same underlying gap in different words.
- A lesson authoring platform that guarantees content ownership and easy export to standard formats
- A tool that prevents platforms from locking or watermarking user-created content retroactively
- Automated document scanner that flags context-specific outdated terms
- Automated check of master slides and placeholders for sensitive text
- Integrated scenario-based lesson creation platform with video templates
- All-in-one tool for creating practical vocational training materials with discussion prompts
- Workflow specifically designed for creating immersive workplace simulation content
- AI-powered slide content optimization tool that suggests ideal slide count and content density for given class time and learner levels
- Differentiation engine to auto-generate modified versions of guided notes for students with IEPs/504s
- Automated property comps and valuation retrieval
- Seamless permit history aggregation
- Real-time data freshness checks
- Presentation software with native support for mathematical notation, dynamic problem solving, and step-by-step animations
- Guided pitch deck creation tool that structures content for investor presentations
- Presentation simulator with different investor meeting environments
- Lesson planning software that frames activities without slideshows and provides digital documentation
- Tool that demonstrates engagement through analog methods but satisfies tech expectations
- Software that provides engaging, ready-made biology lesson activities beyond slides
- Interactive platform for students to explore biological concepts independently
- Tool for teachers to quickly find and adapt engaging teaching resources
What they do instead
The manual processes people built around the gap. A long workaround list is the strongest evidence a problem is real: someone is already paying for it in time. Where several people described the same workaround, it is marked.
- took a physical photo of my screen with my phone because screenshot tools were blocked
- exported lessons and completely recreated them from scratch over a week
- manually scrubbing watermarked curriculum from the website
- Search across the whole file for old client name
- Open slide master and check every placeholder by hand
- using PowerPoint presentations for lessons
- incorporating random YouTube clips for practical examples
- doing extra prep work to make sessions feel practical
- creates own PowerPoints manually from textbook
- uses guided notes for all students to avoid singling out IEP students
- tries to estimate appropriate slide count by trial and error
- manually pull MLS comps
- navigate Riverside County permit portal (slow)
- build a PowerPoint
- hope nothing changed before the appointment
- uses whiteboard instead of slides
- uses pieces of paper over coffee with investor
- swipes on iPad to show ideas
- imagines using whiteboard and projector in a room
- Creates PowerPoint slideshows for digital documentation despite disliking them
The problems themselves
Highest opportunity score first.
Teachers are losing control of their original curriculum content due to Nearpod (now owned by Renaissance) watermarking and locking user-created lessons, forcing hours of manual extraction and recreation.
4HighEducationIntellectual Property ProtectionCreatorSafeConsultant accidentally leaves prior client names in PowerPoint footers and master slides, risking embarrassment and looking unprofessional.
3MediumProfessional ServicesDocument ManagementDeckSweepVocational health/care trainers struggle to create practical, scenario-based teaching materials efficiently, relying on disconnected tools like PowerPoint and YouTube which fail to simulate real workplace experiences.
3MediumEducationClassroom ManagementScenarioFlow ProA social studies teacher is struggling to create effective PowerPoint presentations and guided notes for a high school geography curriculum, balancing content depth with accessibility for students with IEPs and different skill levels.
3MediumEducationCurriculum ManagementSlideCraft for EducatorsReal estate agents spend hours manually gathering property data and pulling comps for listing appointments, with risk of data becoming stale before the meeting.
3MediumReal EstateCompetitive IntelligencePropertyDNAMath teachers lack an effective digital tool for presenting step-by-step mathematical content, leading them to prefer whiteboards over slides.
2MildEducationCurriculum ManagementMathSlide ProFounder lacks a structured process and software tools to create compelling investor pitch materials and deliver presentations.
2MildGeneral Business ServicesBusiness DevelopmentPitchCraftA second-year high school foreign language teacher spends 90% of lesson planning time creating PowerPoint slideshows, but feels slideshows add no instructional value and wants to revert to analog teaching without ruffling feathers.
3MediumEducationLesson PlanningPlanFlowA first-year high school biology teacher struggles to deliver engaging, in-depth biology lessons without relying heavily on PowerPoint slides, and seeks strategies to improve student engagement and learning outcomes.
3MediumEducationTeaching Materials & PlanningBioEngage Toolkit
Read this fairly
These are complaints, and only complaints — nobody posts to say their software worked. A high count mostly reflects how many people use Powerpoint at all, so this page is not a quality judgement and should not be read as one. What it is good for is the shape of the gaps: the specific jobs people could not get done, which are the same whether the tool is popular or not.