Project description
Continue on your TOPIC: HOW TO MAKE AN LED PLANETARIUM THAT MIMICS THE NATURAL SKY AT NIGHT.
DONT USE YOUR VOICE for this video.
After writing your instructions for this project, create a USABILITY VIDEO modeled after the ones we’ve looked at in class. The video will be an accompaniment to your written instructions document and should involve a user working through your instructions with notes on complicated or difficult sections and relevant context for the use.
The video should be suitable for PUBLISHING on Youtube (as an example of quality) and you may use any video editing software you are comfortable with. If you have a MAC you should have access to iMovie, and Windows machines likewise come with Windows Live Movie Maker.
You may use STILL IMAGES, VIDEO, TALKING HEADS, SCREENSHOTS, TEXT, MUSIC, ETC. to support your instructions and convey their use in the video. Expecting at least video/images, text, and voice, but highly encourage you to be creative and go beyond the bare minimum. If you are concerned about recording, think of what affordances you may have: Laptops, smartphones, and tablets can all record video, images, and audio that would be suitable for this project.
The POST-MORTEM REPORT will be a short, 1-2 page memo explaining any issues with your instructions and video. The post-mortem is a chance to reflect on the whole project and discuss the ways the project went well (or went wrong) to an audience looking for context. Post-mortems are often written in the workplace at the end of projects to make sure every member is on the same page about the successes and failures of the project.
Remember the goal of the video is to SHOW A USER actually using your document to do a task, it doesn’t have to go smoothly or quickly. In the workplace a usability test like this would give you a lot of feedback to go back and work over your instructions document again, but in this context you’ll just take note of areas that the user had trouble with. You can do this usability video in a few ways–as you film the user he/she can speak aloud through their process as they work, or you can talk to the user as he/she works through the instructions. Some students end up with rather quiet videos if the user doesn’t talk much or have much trouble, so you can go back and record voice over to help illustrate the video if you don’t think it is showing much. To keep your videos manageable, aim for about 10 minutes or less for the video. If you think your instructions will take longer than that, you can just freeform film and cut the video down to just highlights, or have the user just do a few steps of your instructions and film that. Again, this is the type of video that you learn from to perfect your document, so if the user makes mistakes or has trouble you don’t need to record again, just take notes, talk through the process with them, and use those issues as the base for your memo covering the usability test.
MEMO: The memo will explain the video and you can discuss problems, issues you didn’t think would arise, and what went right as well. You may want to ask your user for feedback after they work through your instructions to get additional feedback if they seemed to have little trouble during the filming. You can also explain if the document changed between the test and the final document you turn in, such as finishing or changing your design. This document can be more conversational and less-formal, as it seeks to help your reader understand the video more fully.
Also, available peer editing for your instructions document
Tutorial to make video:
http://computers.tutsplus.com/tutorials/imovie-basic-editing–mac-52831
http://www.thewindowsclub.com/how-to-editing-videos-in-windows-live-movie-maker
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/edit-a-movie-in-windows-movie-maker
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