Monthly Archives: October 2009
Transforming Video: Non-destructively!
Video is far more than a publishing or entertainment medium. It can also be a powerful tool to record expert knowledge. Unfortunately, the video that emerges from a typical knowledge capture session is too fragmented, error-filled and poorly structured to be used directly in professional presentations or documentation. A video producer will have to make extensive (and expensive) edits to render the video clips presentable. Typically, the producer will use sophisticated software (e.g., Adobe Premiere and Apple Final Cut) to slice, dice and dramatically transform the raw material. However, conventional tools create two problems that complicate later revisions:
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Engineers Love Writing Manuals! – Really!
You customized an ERP module with 15 new fields, 4 new screens, 5 significantly changed screens, a significantly different workflow, and an updated graphics 'theme'. It takes you about 30 min just to walk a co-worker through all of the new features and methods. Now, you're tasked to deliver end-user documentation and training materials ASAP. Your options are:
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Industrial Mind Music
Remember the last time a manual told you to press a button and nothing happened? So you spend fifteen minutes on the phone waiting for customer service, and then you're told you just have to press it past where it starts giving pressure, but you were too afraid you'd break it? These are details it's almost impossible to capture with simple text.
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Two Underutilized Software Training Technologies