Why you should be using video to train your ECMS users

Just the other day a huge 60 page thick training / support manual for our old RedDot CMS projects landed on my desk from one of the marketing guys. Not quite ‘War and Peace’ (as there were a few screenshots and pretty pictures included), but at the same time it’s not something that most people would be itching to open up and read. Not to mention it would have been quite tedious to write this thing from scratch.

Of course it’s important to document our work (no matter if it’s a RedDot or some other ECMS project) and on most occasions providing training and support material is a deliverable when handing over a project to client.

But does it always have to be a formal step-by-step manual?

Over the past couple years I have been replacing training and support manuals with custom video tutorials. Nothing too fancy or over the top in terms of production value – just simple and quick screen captures with voiceover. All that’s required is software to record everything (I usually use CamStudio – and its Open Source as well!) and a microphone. The other great thing about CamStudio is that it can automatically generate Flash SWF files for each video you create so you can embed them directly into your RedDot CMS projects within a custom “Help” page in SmartEdit mode.

There are plenty of resources online that provide evidence on the benefits on video based learning. I won’t go into too much detail but here’s just a sample:

• Faster skills transfer
• Higher receptivity to learning and retaining information long term
• Video is modular in content by providing control over the content and timing of training sessions

I did take some time to get the hang of producing a couple video tutorials as it’s not a case of just pressing record and thinking you will be a ‘one take wonder’! It does require a little bit of prep work up front, in particular coming up with a basic script that outlines exactly you will be demonstrating/explaining in each video.

I’ve found it best to break up topics into quick 2-3 minute videos. For example, don’t try and explain how to create or edit pages in one big long video, instead focus on key tasks such as:

• using the text editor
• uploading documents
• publishing
• editing/sorting navigation links

Users will then be able to find help on specific items of interest rather than having to wade through lots of unwanted information.

Try and make your training videos as generic as possible so can reuse them for other clients/projects. For future projects you will only then need to create new videos covering custom or unique features – such as RedDot CMS plugins or new Red Dot’s that you have created.