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Subject:Re: what's the current trend? From:Tom Johnson <tomjohnson1492 -at- gmail -dot- com> To:TECHWR-L Writing <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Wed, 21 Oct 2015 07:13:23 -0700
Some years ago I observed about half a dozen users in usability lab
interacting with my documentation (for a GUI-based software product).
For beginners who were less tech savvy, they loved the videos. Some watched
the videos multiple times. There are many details that you simply get from
watching a video that you don't get by reading text (things you don't even
realize you're doing when you write the instructions, but which people pick
up on while watching the video, like having certain windows open or having
specific options available to you).
For more experienced users already familiar with the product (or just more
tech savvy), text works better. These users skim and scan, looking for
specific answers.
Based on this experience, when I create videos, I keep the videos oriented
towards beginners and make the content fairly simple. This focus also helps
prolong the life of the video, because the introductory, basic features of
an application don't often change. I also keep the videos short, such as
2-4 minutes, because this duration fits the patience threshold of the
viewer.
On Wed, Oct 21, 2015 at 6:44 AM, Tony Chung <tonyc -at- tonychung -dot- ca> wrote:
> Isn't "it depends" the answer to everything related to TechCom? Moving
> right along!
>
> So back to Frank's original post: there are no "trends" except that which
> we have already know: "Know your audience, and find out if you're providing
> the right information in the right way."
>
> -Tony
>
> On Wednesday, 21 October 2015, Bernd Hutschenreuther <hutschi -at- yahoo -dot- com
> <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','hutschi -at- yahoo -dot- com');>> wrote:
>
> >
> > So I can say: it depends on the problem.
> > And maybe on audience.
> >
> >
> >
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