Re: Video vs The Written Word

["Rick Stone" <rstone75 -at- kc -dot- rr -dot- com>]

Hi all

Just my own personal $.02 worth (adjusted for inflation)

Just playing Devil's Advocate here, but let's just say that you are 
attempting to coax the user into turning a knob that is located among a very 
complex maze of other similar objects. And further, assume that nothing 
currently exists in the form of photographic help. If I were the person 
needing assistance with locating said knob, I would cheerfully and 
gratefully appreciate ANY form of photo that simply showed me where the darn 
thing was, using a callout, as opposed to reading three paragraphs of text 
that explain where it may be located.

Granted, I agree that the better the photo can be, the better the end 
result. But I'm not sure I'd care if the photo were along the lines of Olan 
Mills or another well known studio, as long as it conveyed what I needed. 
And to be totally honest, I think my gut would probably inherently make me 
trust a more "basic" photo than one that was meticulously laid out and all 
color coordinated under perfect lighting. As I would somehow think that this 
was probably captured under "real" circumstances.

I'm not suggesting anyone settle for shoddy work. Only offering a 
potentially differing viewpoint from an end user point of view.

As for videos, I see it this way. Perhaps you have a series of steps that 
might take two to three HTML pages to perform. But if you could keep the 
user on the same page without having to read and click to see the next page 
of information, the focus may be better retained. Additionally, from what I 
understand, people are more enticed to watch a video, where they will simply 
balk at a pile of written instructions. Sometimes a disconnect can occur 
when reading, where if they are actually watching a process be performed it 
is more engaging.

I do agree with the fact that one cannot print the steps from a video to 
take with them. But I believe that if a bit of care is taken, the addition 
of video can be invaluable. As for video, I'd say it should be supplemental. 
Written material should also be provided. I think of it like that FedEx 
commercial where the employee suggests something. A pause occurs. Then the 
boss makes the same suggestion as the employee did. People may connect more 
easily with video than simple written text, or vice-versa.

Cheers... Rick :)


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dori Green" <dgreen -at- associatedbrands -dot- com>
To: <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Sent: Tuesday, February 20, 2007 12:39 PM
Subject: RE: Video vs The Written Word