How-to-videos in technical documentation

Instruction film, utility film or service videos: There are many different names for the trend towards moving instructions. And it is not only the manufacturers of consumer products who see themselves challenged. More and more industrial companies are also expanding their classic documentation in the direction of supporting explanatory and instructional content with moving films and animations.

In order to keep up with user expectations, but also to use the didactic potential that lies in this form of information preparation.

So what does the moving image have over the classic print manual, which only has text and images as means of instruction? Basically, wherever spatiality or motion sequences are involved, the moving image has the edge when it comes to conveying information.

Let's take a very simple example: What is the easiest way to thread the needle of a sewing machine? In a pure text manual, this quickly becomes abstract.

Of course, you can put each step into understandable words - short sentences, not too much information at once. But what you do with which hand, how you hold the thread most skilfully - the reader has to put all this together into a visual image.

It is much easier for him if he sees an animation or a film that shows this interaction in reality.

What applies to our simple example of a sewing machine also applies to many processes in industrial applications. For example, more and more car and commercial vehicle workshops are working with instruction videos. How do I lubricate an axle correctly? How do I hold the brush so that the grease is distributed correctly and the axle can run for another 100,000 kilometres? The success of videos is so clear that the moving picture is slowly becoming the standard.

Of course - this too is certain: videos will not replace "written" documentation. There is content that is not suitable for presentation as a moving image, for example a reference of error messages or the obligatory safety chapter. Also, for purely legal reasons, writing will continue to play a major role. No machine manufacturer can afford not to continue to give all information to its customers in printed form.

If videos are now increasingly coming into focus, then it is as a supplement to the "classic" instructions consisting of text and images. As I said, this is a supplement with enormous potential.

If you have strategic or content responsibility for documentation - and cannot share the enthusiasm for the moving image: I can well understand you. Because in addition to the clear didactic advantages, the large-scale use of videos as a means of preparing information is also associated with some tangible challenges. I will briefly outline the most important ones:

Firstly, you have to ensure that the users of your videos also focus on what you want them to see. Without visual "narrowing" through arrows or hotspots, it can quickly happen that users don't see the forest for the trees. This is an important didactic challenge.

The topic of "text in film" is similar. Often the moving image is not enough to convey the required information. Texts or warnings have to be inserted at certain points in the timeline. How do film and text come together?

Very important in this context: the warnings. Especially in instructions for industrial products, warnings are essential for the safe use of equipment and machines. They must not be omitted from the film. And they must correspond exactly with their counterparts in the printed instructions. How can this consistency be ensured?

This brings us to the last point, the editing process: films are usually made by video professionals. They have their own tools and working methods for this. If you as an editor have special requirements, for example in the area of callout and text, it becomes difficult: you can't do it yourself and every addition generates communication and QA effort. The degree of complexity can be increased even further if the text still has to be translated. So work that would be much better done by you in the editorial department ends up on the desk of the video makers. This is not a good state of affairs and one reason why many editorial departments tend to shy away from the topic of video.

As you can see, instructional videos will play a very central role in technical communication in the future, have clear advantages, but also bring challenges. In order for you as an editorial team to successfully master the new requirements related to the moving image, video handling must be integrated into the heart of modern editorial management - in other words, it must be integrated into the CMS.

In this way, videos develop from the "difficult exotic" to managed content. Linked to the existing text and image data, integrated into the standard processes for translation, versioning and quality assurance.

With Callout in Motion you can bring your callout graphics and animations to life in SCHEMA ST4. Integrated into the editing system, linked to the existing text and image content, integrated into the standard processes for translation, versioning and quality assurance - Callout in Motion draws on the full range of functions of SCHEMA ST4 and thus enables you to create completely new content in your technical documentation.

Curious now? Then keep checking back here in our blog. In the next post on the topic there will be a short tour of the new feature.