In the process of developing documentation for LiveWhale, our new CMS, we have begun to record screencasts to demo LW’s features. Often it’s easier to show than tell, when it comes to CMS features; a narrated demonstration lets us inject a little personality. And it’s also a lot faster than writing out a how-to page (although we’ll have to have written documentation as well, it does seem to be the case that nobody will actually read it).
Our first effort, a screencast of LiveWhale’s news system, leaves much to be desired; it’s clear that we’re new at this. It’s hard to figure out the right tone of voice (how much humor? how fast? etc.), and it took several takes to get through it without messing anything up. (And we still had to edit the final product a bit.) I’m sure it’s something we’ll continue to refine and improve as we continue developing LiveWhale’s documentation.
All of this is to say that I just watched the most effective screencast demo I’ve seen in a long time, if not ever.
Google has just added video chat to its Gmail service. This is a big deal— not only is it a potential Skype-killer, it opens up the possibility that video chat will become a part of life for all computer users the way it is for Mac people. (Video chat has been deeply integrated into the Mac for years now; I know several people who have bought their parents Macs solely because it’s so easy to do long-distance videochats.)
Anyway, the video demo is sublime, wonderful, perfect:
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The balloons are a really cute and intuitive idea. Great screencast.