Video Speaks Every Language (Updated)

[the earlier article triggered some interesting offline discussions. I have rewritten parts of it to incorporate the results of those discussions]

Problem Statement

You have a critical, but tricky, procedure that must be followed throughout your global operation. You have vendors in China, plants in Portland and Valdosta, offices in Seoul, Stuttgart and Cairo. So far, you have relied on emails and memos, but there are clear differences in the way they are applied in different locations. Is it language? Is it local preference? Are the memos just unclear? Whatever the reason, you need to solve it. Conflicting procedures are almost worse than no procedures at all.

How can you get everyone on the same page - quickly?

The Global Communications Challenge

The process for communication across distance, culture and language has been virtually unchanged for centuries. To be sure, we have improved it with technology. We now send emails instead of messengers. We are using webinars instead of travelling to meetings. But the basic process is qualitatively the same:

There are at least 5 distinct intellectual steps in the process of transferring expert knowledge to a different language and culture. Each step demands the engagement of a motivated, knowledgeable expert to move the information forward to the next stage. If there is any lack of knowledge, a lack of attention, or confusion, the message may not get to the destination intact.

To an engineer or systems designer, a system like this is a cause for deep concern. Each step is a potential 'single point of failure' that can jeopardize or halt knowledge transfer. Worse, if something goes wrong at one of these steps, no one may spot the problem until the error is seen in the performance at the other end. The error, plus the delay, can cost a lot of time and money. Too often, the only practical remedy is to get on an airplane to go and sort it out.

The problem gets worse for a global, multicultural, multi-lingual enterprise. Global companies don' t have one message transfer process - they may have thousands per week. Each has the same inherent weaknesses. When they are considered collectively, it is virtually certain that an costly percentage of the communications will fail. In fact, it is amazing that so many messages actually get through. In a rapidly globalizing world, the prognosis seems dire and the solutions are all costly. Yet, what choice does a global enterprise have? is there no better way?

Not as long as the process involves the traditional steps (with their single points of failure). Internet technology can help around the edges, but it can't make people conceptualize more clearly, it can't do foolproof translation in context and it can't help people to interpret foreign instructions to fit their work. It can mainly move the (possibly broken) messages more quickly. It can also reduce the time and cost to repair the damage. Webinars and conference calls can at least minimize the airplane fares.

A Robust Communication System

There is an alternative that is both much better and very affordable. iPOV has been pioneering practical applications of this idea for several years. Like everything else that we do, it starts with the idea that video is the key. Suppose we take the message supply chain and, instead of relying on written text, we emphasize the use of video. We're not talking about TV or professional quality video. We're talking about the informal video that might be uploaded to YouTube.

Let's suppose that, instead of being asked to write a manual or procedure, the subject expert is asked to demonstrate and explain the procedure. Let's further suppose that someone knowledgeable attends the demonstration session with the intent of asking questions to clarify the expert's explanation. This video is recorded with one of the low-cost video capture technologies that are springing up everywhere. Finally, let's suppose that the recording, warts and all, is digitized as a Flash movie that can be uploaded and shared from a web server. If those simple things can be arranged, it is possible to explore a whole new approach to multi-lingual and cross-cultural communication. The following diagram illustrates iPOV's implementation of this concept. In our approach, the communication will pass through a series of steps that are similar to the traditional approach, but differ in some very important ways.

The process starts with the capture of an expert demonstration or presentation. The capture is done with screencasting for computer tasks, PowerPoint screencasts for concept presentations, digital camcorders for physical action, or any combination of the three. The resulting video clips move through iPOV's construction and restatement transformations to generate a validated, professional English master. The scripts from the now-validated English master are then processed through the translation transformation to generate a version in the target language. This is the document that the ultimate user must work from.

The diagram shows the feature that makes this a much better, safer approach. Even though iPOV will translate the text to the target language, the video will remain unaltered. In fact, the video will remain constant and identical across every language version that is ultimately produced. The principal part of the information will be immune to error over the full span of the transmission process. To be sure, a translation mistake might occur in the script or voiceover, but the video portion will remain intact. Some viewer along the way will probably spot the discrepancy and ask for clarification. In other words, the consistent video will act as a safety net for the accuracy of the overall communication.

The use of video may carry another, even bigger benefit. In the current text translation process, it is very difficult for the source of the information to verify the accuracy of the translation. Most Americans can't read or understand Chinese, so we cannot tell if our words are translated accurately. We can only judge by the behavior that those translated words create at the destination. If people react the way we expect, we assume that the message got through. With video, we can view the message at every step of the process. If the video remains intact, we know exactly what our audience is seeing. If the video is somehow impaired or swapped, we can tell instantly that the message is being garbled.

Communicating Visually

On its merits, we would expect that video must assume a central role in global communication. This is as true for routine industrial and business communication as it is for entertainment and social communication. However, there are several forces that seem to be holding back widespread use of video in everyday communications. In our experience, three factors are due to general unfamiliarity with the power of current web video:

• People are intimidated by the folklore that 'video is hard to make'. That used to be true. The YouTube generation proves that things have changed. Any residual concern is eliminated by iPOV's ability to take mediocre video and make it look professional.
• Video files are too big to ship. Once again, YouTube shows that is an outdated concern. As more countries come online with major broadband investments, that concern will totally evaporate.
• Risk and Inertia. The idea proposed in this article is not complicated. However, it is radically different from accepted current practice. In a conservative business climate, it will take a bit of courage to try something this different. Fortunately, it is easy to try a small experiment - then scale up if it is promising.

However, as industrial video comes into wider use, there will be a fourth challenge. Most people are uncertain about their ability to present knowledge in a visual form. In most cases, they have never tried to package their explanations to be visually self-evident. While this is a challenge, it also offers an opportunity for competitive advantage. If an organization can coach and facilitate its personnel to be more visual, they can cut their communications costs and increase their speed and accuracy.

It is important to remember that the communication need not be perfectly visual to be effective. The goal is to add a visual communication component that can be cross-verified with the audio and textual communication. iPOV has recorded hundreds of examples of informal video. Some were 100% self-evident from the video presentation. Most were combinations of text, audio and visual elements. In all cases, however, the video component reduced the chance that the text would be misinterpreted. With the right coaching, virtually anyone can craft visual explanations or demonstrations that will supplement and safeguard their standard correspondence. The following examples were all generated by ordinary employees that were not video or graphics experts. To gauge the value of the video content, consider playing these movies with the sound off:

• A physical demonstration is almost completely self-evident. To test this, play the video with the sound off.
• Software transaction "how-to" illustrates how to perform a software transaction.
• Sofware Code Walkthrough contains lots of valuable visual clues to help the viewer understand the structure of the code.
• Recording of a PowerPoint presentation - even though this contains a lot of word slides, the audio sequencing and the deliberate pacing of the explanation would make it more easily understood by a translator or a viewer with English as a second language.

In addition to iPOV's experience, there are many other sources. Some of the best ideas and inspirations can be found at YouTube and Google Video. They contain a growing collection of explanatory clips. Try viewing the foreign language videos, or play others with the sound off. It is often amazing what you can understand:

• This video shows how how to peel a potato in seconds - in Japanese.
• The late Carl Sagan proves that you don't need special effects to explain something complex - like the 4th Dimension. You just need a tabletop with paper, apples and a clear plastic cube.
• This screencast explains how to make a complex graphic with software. The video has no sound, perhaps because the author doesn't speak English!
• This PowerPoint presentation by the late Cpt. Patriquin influenced the US military to reverse their policy in Iraq's Anbar province.

Finally, if anyone is really bitten by the bug of visual explanation, check out books by Edward Tufte. He has published amazing collections that show how to put complex ideas into pictorial forms. Few people will match his insight, but most people will find inspiration and useful ideas. It would take very little effort for an organization to assemble a library of examples and templates to help its staff build better visual explanations. This is an area that current instructional design staff may find interesting and iPOV will be happy to help.

Bottom Line

If the idea of rapid, error-free, multi-lingual communicatin seems appealing, please give us a call and let us help you to explore it. What have you got to lose? If you do global business, you are almost certainly suffering losses every day. This is one of those opportunities where the possible outcomes range between 'lose very small' and 'hit the jackpot'. Those are pretty good investment odds.