FreeYour computer's screen recorderAbout 40 min
Film the Real Screen for How to Videos
If you teach a tool or a form, record the actual screen while you do the actual steps. Do not draw mock frames of what you think it looks like.
Why This Matters
A how to video built from mock frames shows buttons where you think they are. When one is in the wrong place, the person following it gets stuck. A screen recording shows where the button really is.
✓ How To Do It
- Write the steps on paper first. Number them. Each step is one click or one thing typed.
- Make a clean test setup. Use a test account and fake names. Close extra tabs, hide the bookmarks bar and turn off notifications.
- Use the screen recorder built into your Mac or Windows PC. Record just the browser window, not the whole desktop.
- Do the steps once with no recording to find the snags. Then record the real run.
- Go slowly. Move the mouse on purpose and pause for a beat after each click so the viewer can follow.
- Say what you are about to click before you click it. Name each button the way it is written on screen.
- Zoom in on small text in editing. Keep the cursor visible.
- Watch the finished video and pause on any frame that shows a password, email, phone number or customer name. Blur it or re-record.
- Have someone who has never done it follow the video. If they get stuck, fix the video.
- Put the date in the description. When the tool changes its screens, record it again.
Done WhenOne how to video recorded on the real screen, checked by a person who followed it start to finish, with the date saved in the description.
Reference List
Sources
Tips & Pitfalls
- Never type a real password on camera, even to hide it.
- Keep each video to one task.
- Link the written steps under the video so people can copy the text.