Recently I’ve been investigating the pros and cons of using online video tutorials instead of traditional written user manuals. The main driving force behind this exploration is reducing the amount of time spent creating documentation.
As an example, this is a demonstration video I created for a new component to my CMS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYRn9-zhyhk
The voice you hear in the video isn’t mine, it was produced using text-to-speech software called TextAloud. The screen recording was made with CamStudio (SnapZ is a good choice for Mac users). And finally, Microsoft MovieMaker was used to insert the audio track into the video.
Before making the screen recording, I created a script to feed to the text-to-speech software, this took about 30 minutes to prepare. Using a script as opposed to just ‘winging it’ has the potential to save a lot of time since the recording doesn’t need to be restarted when there are spoken errors (e.g. umms and ahhs).
The majority of this article is taken up by two large bullet lists. The first describes what’s good about using YouTube for video help, and as you would expect, the second list points out the short-comings of hosting your demo videos on YouTube.
The advantages of using online tutorial videos:
• It's faster than writing a user manual (which many people don’t read anyway).
• It appeals to peoples’ inherent laziness. You simply can't make it any easier for a person, they just sit back, relax, and watch.
• It can communicate some ideas more effectively than written documentation. As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.
• It’s quick to update. A new video can easily be uploaded if the software changes.
• No hosting or disk space is required since the video resides on YouTube’s server.
• YouTube streams video very fast.
• It doesn't require that a user have a particular CODEC installed on their computer (e.g. DivX, XviD, RealMedia, etc).
• There is a degree of familiarity. People are comfortable with YouTube, they know how it works (nb. this is known as affordance in usability circles).
• YouTube now supports high definition video. Previously, videos were so compressed you couldn't make out text or UI elements (nb. adding &fmt=18 at the end of a YouTube URL will trigger high quality video playback).
• On projects with tight budgets or looming deadlines, very little time may be allocated towards user documentation. Video tutorials can be a real life-saver here.
• Great for introductions (i.e. to quickly show a new user how something looks or works).
• Video is better at conveying GUI interactions compared to written documentation (e.g. in video, the mouse would just move to a save button and click it vs a document saying something like ‘click the save button at the bottom of the screen when ready’).
• Many people prefer video tutorials to written documentation.
• Video tutorials are great for ‘how-to’ type demonstrations
• Using a script with text-to-speech software can be very helpful for those who have English as a second language.
• In a video demonstration, steps in a process can’t be missed (i.e. if the author forgets something, it will be apparent very quickly).
• There are no spelling or grammar errors.
• You don't need a second person for proof reading.
• Spoken word can convey subtle nuances which are missing in written documentation (e.g. tone of voice can communicate things such as enthusiasm, etc)
• It appeals to peoples’ inherent laziness. You simply can't make it any easier for a person, they just sit back, relax, and watch.
• It can communicate some ideas more effectively than written documentation. As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.
• It’s quick to update. A new video can easily be uploaded if the software changes.
• No hosting or disk space is required since the video resides on YouTube’s server.
• YouTube streams video very fast.
• It doesn't require that a user have a particular CODEC installed on their computer (e.g. DivX, XviD, RealMedia, etc).
• There is a degree of familiarity. People are comfortable with YouTube, they know how it works (nb. this is known as affordance in usability circles).
• YouTube now supports high definition video. Previously, videos were so compressed you couldn't make out text or UI elements (nb. adding &fmt=18 at the end of a YouTube URL will trigger high quality video playback).
• On projects with tight budgets or looming deadlines, very little time may be allocated towards user documentation. Video tutorials can be a real life-saver here.
• Great for introductions (i.e. to quickly show a new user how something looks or works).
• Video is better at conveying GUI interactions compared to written documentation (e.g. in video, the mouse would just move to a save button and click it vs a document saying something like ‘click the save button at the bottom of the screen when ready’).
• Many people prefer video tutorials to written documentation.
• Video tutorials are great for ‘how-to’ type demonstrations
• Using a script with text-to-speech software can be very helpful for those who have English as a second language.
• In a video demonstration, steps in a process can’t be missed (i.e. if the author forgets something, it will be apparent very quickly).
• There are no spelling or grammar errors.
• You don't need a second person for proof reading.
• Spoken word can convey subtle nuances which are missing in written documentation (e.g. tone of voice can communicate things such as enthusiasm, etc)
The disadvantages of using online tutorial videos:
• Video is not as effective for explaining detailed usage (e.g. coding syntax).
• You can’t skip pages or jump to a particular section you may be interested in.
• You can’t copy and paste code snippets or text from a video.
• You can’t slowly re-read something until you ‘get it’.
• Unlike a user manual in PDF, video cannot be printed.
• Hosting videos on YouTube may be viewed as unprofessional or have a ‘hobby’ feel to it.
• Using text-to-speech software vs a human voice may sound boring to a user.
• The YouTube website may be blocked at some companies if its viewed as an entertainment website.
• Some people believe a written manual is somehow more serious then a video (i.e. video is ancillary or a gimmick).
• Most people lack the ability to produce videos with credible production values.
• We generally have far better written skills then video production ability.
• YouTube is starting to display ads at the beginning of some videos.
• Many people like written documentation in addition to video tutorials (i.e. they wont accept videos as a substitute for a user manual).
• You can’t search through a video for a keyword like you can with a PDF.
• YouTube videos cannot easily be downloaded. This can be an issue for people with slow internet connections (legend has it some people are still using dial-up!)
• Making training videos publically accessible may pose intellectual property rights issues.
• Accessibility - deaf people can’t hear the audio track of a video.
• Poorly spoken dialogue can severely tarnish the perceived quality of a video.
• Dialogue which is spoken too slowly can be annoying to a viewer.
• You can’t skip pages or jump to a particular section you may be interested in.
• You can’t copy and paste code snippets or text from a video.
• You can’t slowly re-read something until you ‘get it’.
• Unlike a user manual in PDF, video cannot be printed.
• Hosting videos on YouTube may be viewed as unprofessional or have a ‘hobby’ feel to it.
• Using text-to-speech software vs a human voice may sound boring to a user.
• The YouTube website may be blocked at some companies if its viewed as an entertainment website.
• Some people believe a written manual is somehow more serious then a video (i.e. video is ancillary or a gimmick).
• Most people lack the ability to produce videos with credible production values.
• We generally have far better written skills then video production ability.
• YouTube is starting to display ads at the beginning of some videos.
• Many people like written documentation in addition to video tutorials (i.e. they wont accept videos as a substitute for a user manual).
• You can’t search through a video for a keyword like you can with a PDF.
• YouTube videos cannot easily be downloaded. This can be an issue for people with slow internet connections (legend has it some people are still using dial-up!)
• Making training videos publically accessible may pose intellectual property rights issues.
• Accessibility - deaf people can’t hear the audio track of a video.
• Poorly spoken dialogue can severely tarnish the perceived quality of a video.
• Dialogue which is spoken too slowly can be annoying to a viewer.
One of the biggest dangers of using video for online help is producing something which is amateurish. The screen recording isn’t the problem, it’s the audio track. Assuming text-to-speech software isn’t being used, multiple takes will probably be necessary, as well as some adjustments in a sound editing software like CoolEdit to remove umms and ahhs.
As good as YouTube is for hosting videos, it does have some drawbacks (e.g. ads). This can be avoided by using alternate services like Vimeo or Screencast, embedding the YouTube video on your own website, or using a Flash video player like JW FLV Media Player. However, the time savings gained by using video tutorials instead of writing a document can quickly be wasted by fiddling with technology.
When using video tutorials, its important to consider peoples’ learning preferences; some people learn better via visual and auditory cues, others absorb information more effectively by reading. This hurdle can be overcome by providing a transcript of the video. The transcript can also be used to produce sub-titles which solve a number of problems (e.g. helpful to listeners who are hearing impaired or struggle understanding spoken English).
Video tutorials are simply another way of conveying information. They have some advantages over written text, but its a trade-off between such things as being able to cut and paste from a digital file (which you can’t do with a regular book anyway), vs communicating information with sight and sound.
Recently Adobe release Captivate 4.0 with the Text-to-speech conversion. Making demos with audio becomes easy. But the price of $799 is beyond my budget. The way you made your demos is wonderful. Some screen recorder like DemoCreator enable users to import the audio file to the screen recording. With some Text-to-speech software, it can also make demos like that.
ReplyDeletePlease contact me. Would like you to write for me site
ReplyDeleteATT: kevin, need a way to contact you (your profile is inactive/invisible). email me on louis_mar *at* hotmail.com
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