Re: videotaping interviews with SMEs

["Lisa Bronson" <Lisa -dot- Bronson -at- ipaper -dot- com>]

 Hi Will,

 I'll clarify a little more of why I have started to tape interviews.  The
 main reason I wanted to make the first tape was because I only had 2 days
 to get all the information I wanted about the machine before they
 disassembled it.  The reason for using video rather than audio only for
the
 first recorded project was because I wanted to try my hand at making a
 training video.  I haven't completed the video yet, but I found the tapes
 extremely useful for writing the manual, particularly since I taped the
 interview in August, but didn't write the manual until November (I
 completed it two days before Thanksgiving).

 This week, I got information for my next two manuals, and I audio taped
 both engineer interviews.  There are two huge benefits to recording the
 interviews:  1) because I can concentrate on what the engineer is saying
 rather than frantically writing notes, I am able to understand how the
 machine works rather than just regurgitate the words the engineer tells
me.
 And 2) I can review the information at any time, greatly reducing the
 number of follow-up questions I ask the engineer, saving time for him/her
 and me.  I'll be working on these two projects simultaneously, so the
tapes
 will prove to be invaluable.

 Yes, things changed on the machine between the time I taped the interview
 and when the machine shipped.  I received a few detailed emails from the
 engineer telling me what changed, and had to do mockups of screens because
 their text changed and I could no longer use still shots from the video.
 But, I would have had to do those things regardless of how I did my
initial
 interview.  The tape gave me a good starting point, but was not an end
all.

 If anyone has other questions about this, please feel free to contact me.

 Hope this helps,
 Lisa B.
 :-)

 ~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~
 Lisa Bronson
 Associate Technical Writer
 Evergreen Packaging Equipment
 Cedar Rapids, Iowa
 319-399-3239
 ~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~

 "They say the seeds of what we will do are in all of us, but it always
 seemed  to me that in those who make jokes in life the seeds are covered
 with better  soil and with a higher grade of manure." -- Ernest  Hemingway


> TWhirlers,
>
> In her post of 12/06, Lisa Bronson mentioned that she loves "taping
> interviews with SME's and watching and/or listening to them over and over
> to get the information I need."  I had not previously heard of TWs
> videotaping SMEs (although I have had valuable results doing so during
> formal TOI presentations at beta releases).  Videotaping SMEs earlier in
> the project sounds like a good idea to me, especially if the trend
> continues that I am seeing toward poorly maintained engineering specs.
>
> However, I wonder if there might be some problems with early videotaping,
> such as resistance on the part of the SMEs (the same kind of resistance
> that engineers present to putting their half-formed ideas in their
> engineering specs...or maybe just shyness?) or on a more formal level
from
> the company (potential exposure of intellectual property?).  Have any of
> you who have tried videotaping had negative feedback?
>






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