Animation in Technical Writing – Opportunities and Challenges
There’s no doubt that how-to videos are gaining in popularity. Even back in 2016, a third of online video users reported that they watched instructional videos frequently or very frequently. Although this survey relates to leisure time and the private sphere, instructional videos also concern the technical communication sector.
Instructional videos, how-to videos, maintenance videos… there are various names for the trend towards instructions in video form, and it’s not just the manufacturers of consumer products that are being confronted with them. An increasing number of industrial companies are expanding their traditional documentation to include explanatory and instructional content in the form of videos and animations which enables them to meet user expectations and exploit the didactic potential this form of information preparation brings.
So what advantages do moving images have over traditional printed instructions, which merely contain text and pictures to provide instructions? When it comes to space or motion sequences, moving images have the edge over printed images to communicate information.
Let’s take a look at a simple example: What is the easiest way to thread the needle on a sewing machine? In text instructions this would quickly become a very abstract explanation.
Of course, you can word each step in comprehensible language, using short sentences and not giving too much information in one go. But what to do with each hand and how best to hold the thread need to become an image in the reader’s head.
It’s much easier for the user to look at images or watch an animation or video that shows the process actually being carried out.
How can technical writers find solutions to these complex questions? How can technical writers rise to the challenge? And what part could a Component Content Management System play in it? Matthias Hofmann, developer of SCHEMA software in Nuremberg, Germany will let you know.
What can the audience expect to learn?
This session raises questions about the appropriate content for different kinds of media. Text, image or video, what is right in what situation and which challenges does each medium bring to the technical writing table? Along with this, Matthias Hofmann will offer professional insight into possible software solutions to these problems and how SCHEMA already found a way to tackle them.
Meet the presenter
Matthias Hofmann studied computer science at the University of Erlangen and has been working in the development of SCHEMA since 2006. He is working on the further development and maintenance of PLD, OMD and Callout Designer.