Re: what's the current trend?

[Sean Brierley <sean -dot- brierley -at- gerberscientific -dot- com>]

Some thoughts against video.

   - It's difficult to make. Everyone expects broadcast quality
   - It is almost impossible to edit.
   - It is impossible to translate.
   - As a user, I must watch a  video sequentially when I can just jump
   into text and read the bits I need.


Am I off base?

Cheers,

Sean

On Mon, Oct 19, 2015 at 9:36 AM, Tony Chung <tonyc -at- tonychung -dot- ca> wrote:

> There are many ways to learn, and we can't discount the portion of our
> customers who can't sit through long documents. I fall somewhere in the
> middle. I hate long documents, but I prefer the text steps rather than a
> video.
>
> Text-only requires a lot of words to describe something complex. A
> well-illustrated procedure is a great reference. A short,
> well-executed video, is a great introduction to a complex task. This is
> where we would experience the time savings.
>
> Of course, content has to be really well done. Nothing is more grating than
> a long video that takes us nowhere. But the fact is people are reading less
> and watching more. Within 2 minutes a person knows if they have received
> what they need or not.
>
> So I wouldn't recommend an all-or-nothing approach. People aren't reading
> documents because they're badly written and don't give them the information
> they want. If you improve the documentation then video may not be required.
>
> But, if you find your verbiage increases your page count exponentially,
> consider a series of short videos. You're not making a TED talk: you're
> producing a helping hand.
>
> -Tony
>
> On Monday, 19 October 2015, Robert Lauriston <robert -at- lauriston -dot- com> wrote:
>
> > How do videos save time? I find the opposite. It often takes a long
> > time to find the bit that I need. Sometimes I sit through the whole
> > thing only to find it doesn't tell me what I need to know. Once in a
> > long while a video is helpful for demonstrating a procedure that 's
> > hard to put into words.
> >
> > In my experience, when a product's written documentation is useless,
> > the videos are usually witless time-wasters as well.
> >
> > On Mon, Oct 19, 2015 at 4:31 AM, Tony Chung <tonyc -at- tonychung -dot- ca> wrote:
> > > ...  as our users are time-challenged to read consistently
> > > useless documentation, a video really does give the best experience.
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-- 
*Sean Brierley*
Technical Writer
*Gerber Technology*, *A Gerber Scientific Company*
24 Industrial Park Rd West
Tolland, CT 06084 USA
860-871-3881 phone
860-875-4357 fax
www.gerbertechnology.com
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