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Subject:Re: Effective use of video in software tutorials? From:Tony Chung <tonyc -at- tonychung -dot- ca> To:"keithpurtell -at- keithpurtell -dot- com" <keithpurtell -at- keithpurtell -dot- com> Date:Fri, 30 Mar 2012 22:34:59 -0700
Quick answers off the top of my head:
- Keep em short
- Focus on one task at a time
- Describe the steps in text to trigger memory and aid retention
- Organize them by task or function
- Select the most common tasks to get users to the point they can
explore the product
- Select the most complicated tasks where a video would be worth more
than a thousand words
- Find tasks that drive support bat crazy with phone calls
Speak clearly and boldly. Too often techcoms sound hesitant on videos
and screen casts. It's better to sound confident without overselling.
Congrats on adding video to your arsenal!
-Tony
On 2012-03-30, at 7:40 PM, Keith Purtell <keithpurtell -at- keithpurtell -dot- com> wrote:
> I'm gradually building our library (on a wiki) of tutorials about our in-house software. Knowing that there are different learning styles, including visual learning, I want to include video. I've got the software I need; it does a good job of recording on-screen activity. The question is what to present. Most of our procedures are too lengthy to do a full start-to-finish video. So my question is, what are some suggestions for the criteria I develop to decide what parts of my documentation would be best supplemented by video?
>
> Keith
>
>
>
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