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Software Simulations - Love em or Leave em? 

11/18/2016

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While I've created many "show me" tutorial videos for software companies, providing eLearning designed for customers is a relatively new thing. I wanted to do a trial of Articulate Storyline's software simulation capabilities, while continuing my comparison of the two types of educational products.

Following on my example from last week, I'm showing the same task, but in this example, the user gets to try the skill instead of just watching it. This can be great for customers who need to learn how to use certain software features, but are afraid of "breaking" the data in their system. 

I'll start with a caveat. I'm not happy with the quality of this output. The point of using Storyline's screen recording feature was to save time. But this isn't publish-quality in my book. The video clips that looked fine in preview mode have morphed into something in the hosted project that is too distracting. But rather than halt my planned investigation here on the blog, I thought I'd show it as is and go from there. I'll provide a better quality example soon. (You can view the project here.) This sample was meant as a rough and quick example anyway, but the quality problems mean I'll have to rethink my process for this type of educational product.

The big-picture process for creating this type of product is similar to the process for creating show me tutorial videos I explained last week.

1. Task analysis
2. Instructional design
3. Prototype/storyboard
4. Template and layout design
5. Development of activity and full context
6. Produce to platform for sharing

The obvious difference from the tutorial is that this example doesn't include narration. Instead of the script and recording steps, I spent more time on the instructional design to figure out how to best engage the learner for maximum knowledge retention and skill transfer. That's why I've included the Q/A at the beginning that helps the user understand why part of this task is important.

This example also doesn't include much in the way of template/layout design or development of the full context. It's really more of a prototype. But the point of a prototype is to get the idea behind the activity across to the project stakeholders before spending resources on development for something that isn't going to work.

I love the idea of software simulation. They are much more fun that watching a video. However, they do take a bigger investment of time and money to develop, so it's important to weigh the potential return on your investment.

You might consider the cost of your support staff - are they answering the same types of questions over and over that could be handled with an interactive learning experience instead? Would you like to get away from doing the same webinars over and over and spend your time on more valuable activities? What about certifications? Would your users pay to be trained in your software because of the gain in skills it provides them? These and other questions are a great starting place for determining whether software simulations deserve a place in your approach to training customers.

So what about you? Let me know in the comments whether you love em or leave em.
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"Show Me" Tutorial Video Design and Development Process

11/7/2016

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I started creating demonstration videos for my software company clients in 2007 and have since created many of these "show me" type tutorial videos.

This week, I thought I would explain the process that I use for designing and developing this type of project.

Videos are a great way to explain how to complete a specific task in the software. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words. 
For this particular sample, I am working toward a comparison of two different types of projects. I'm using a more advanced feature of Microsoft Word to illustrate the two different types of projects.  Because of the comparison aspect of this example, I did things a little differently than I have in the past. But the overall process is basically the same. 
1
The first step is determine the scope of the video. This involves analyzing the task that you want to demonstrate and think about every single incremental step to get you from point A to point B.  It's important not to leave anything out, so think like a technical writer.

As part of this step, you'll want to think about what data will appear in your recording and set that up now. You'll also need to handle any pre-requisites that must be done in the software before you can get to the screen you want to record.
2
Next, I always write a script. This may or may not include programming instructions for what I want to show on the screen along with the narration, but it always includes the words that will be said in the video. Some people may be able to wing it when recording audio, but I don't recommend it unless you have lots of time for do-overs or don't care about the "umms" and other filler words.

I also read the script out loud before recording to make sure that it sounds smooth and that it isn't too long. Generally, if you start going over about 3 minutes, your audience will start tuning out.
3
I use the script to record the narration separately. I've tried recording both audio and visuals at the same time for screen recording videos. Trust me when I say it's more efficient to record them separately and time them later. So the third step is to record and edit the audio. I won't go into any details of audio recording here, but I use Audacity and a Blue Snowball microphone with a table stand and pop filter, and DIY foam surround for the microphone to dampen external sounds and echos. If I make a mistake while recording, I just keep going, reading the start of that phrase or sentence again. It's fairly easy to edit out the mistakes (usually). This process takes about two or three times the length of the finished audio. For example, a three-minute video will take me about 10-15 minutes to record and edit the audio.
4
Once I've finished the audio, it's time to get the screen recordings or screen shots. It helps to have a scripted plan for what you are going do while the "camera" is on, although when I'm just needing to click a few times, I may skip it. It is also VITAL that you've considered any data requirements or software pre-requisites before you start recording, as I mentioned in step 1.

I normally use Camtasia for the screen recordings. But for this particular example, I used Articulate Storyline's screen recording and exporting capabilities so that I can realize efficiencies of scale for the next part of my comparison. There were pros and cons to this decision, which I'll discuss more at length in a week or two.

I've even created entire videos from still shots. Adobe Captivate handles things like this well, and I can even add a simulated mouse to make it look like a recording.

This recording process can be quite quick, with some variations among the different tools. Sometimes I just record a step or two at a time. However, recording can get time consuming, if as the recording progresses, you realize that you've forgotten something important and need to revisit steps 1, 2, and/or 3. This is one of the reasons that the task analysis step is so important.
5
Now comes the juicy part - putting it all together. I almost always use Camtasia for editing the video and syncing the timing. This post isn't meant as an in-depth tutorial for using Camtasia, but the basic process is:
  • Add the audio to one track.
  • Add the screen recording to a second track.
  • Cut or extend frames in the video so that the narration matches what is happening visually. Sometimes I also need to add a little time here and there to the audio track.
  • Add title slides and callouts.
  • Produce final video
6
Once the video has been produced, it's ready to share. Since my clients all have different needs and processes, this can vary quite a bit. You may post it on YouTube or Vimeo or host it on a website.
There are also SME reviews along the way, depending on the project. 

If you didn't watch the sample video from the image above, you can view it here.

​And good luck with your videos!
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Training Customers using Instructional Interactivity Principles

11/4/2016

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I just completed a two-day eLearning Instructional Design certificate program with the ATD (Association for Talent and Development*). I’ll say again that the organization doesn’t quite hit the mark for me, because my focus is on training customers and vendors for my clients, and most of the ATD members work for a sizeable corporations and are focused on training employees. While training customers has some similarities with training employees, in some ways it is very different. I have lots to say on this subject, so stay tuned!
However, I’d like to point out that the concepts of instructional interactivity that I learned for the certificate program still apply for training customers or end users. In fact, in some ways they may be even more important, as happy customers who are meeting their performance objectives with your software more directly affect your bottom line.
​
In this post, I’d simply like to announce the upcoming topics I have planned related to this concept.  I plan to do a comparison of a “show me” type tutorial video and an eLearning activity designed to teach a customer the same task. I hope that my upcoming posts can explain how and why these are different and situations in which you might want to choose one over the other. This topic will take me some time to put together, so in the meantime, I will provide some related topics leading up to it, including:
  • The process for developing a “show me” tutorial video
  • The process for developing instructional interactivity type eLearning content
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