Ask HN: Text help or video help? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Text help or video help?

4 pointsx0ner7 comments

I have been making sites for quite sometime now, but have one I think could be pretty useful. One of the challenges I am facing however is taking a very difficult topic and "dumbing" it down for the masses. I am a huge fan of built-in context help and video explanations as they seem to allow you to connect more. So my questions is this, is it better to have a help menu with some supplementary text, or a video someone could watch?

View on HN

This took some effort, but one site I worked on a few years ago used neither technique (well, it did have context-sensitive help, but that's not "showing how"). For each help topic and FAQ, I created in-page, automated demonstrations with Javascript. Essentially, a big green "arrow" pointer and pre-recorded audio with on-screen captions showing exactly how to do something, while actually doing it on the site.

So the benefit of "showing" how to do something without the bandwidth required for video, far more engaging than straight text ("click here, type something, tap that, etc."), and slightly interactive (the user could, depending on what was being demonstrated, participate in the scripted events - imagine being shown how to enter keywords in a CMS).

I keep wondering if I should commercialize that sort of thing for other sites, actually...

Ideally, both.

I personally prefer to start by glancing at text. If it seems interesting I'll watch the video. If I want to know more, I'll read the text carefully and click the links.

That was my thought initially but steered away because of the large combination. In the sites current state I have a little [?] located next to things that may need to be explained. Upon clicking you get a nice dialog box that explains things. When the dialog box shows up, it grays everything else out, so do you think throwing both text and video in there would be alright? I want to avoid making it look like too much and turning the user away.

Well you don't want to go down that road. By having everything showing, you're giving more control to the user (they get to decide which mode of learning is best for them) and search engines get to digest your content and reward you with "free" traffic.

Personal opinion, offered in a drive-by.

I hate videos.

Hmm. Just out of curiosity, why?

Too slow, very seldom well done, too slow, can't link through to other things and come back, too slow, usually don't have want I actually want, too slow, can't skim, too slow, purely linear, and too slow.

And they're too slow.

I read really, really fast, and the ability to skim, pick what I want, follow a link, and get to the real question is totally blocked and prevented by video.

Additionally, they don't engage me. They are intended for a passive audience. People think they remember lots from videos, but I seem to remember some research that suggests that they don't. You might Google for terms such as video, engagement, learning, retention rates, etc.

I've got to go, but here's an offer. If you trust me, email me what you're trying to explain, and I'll tell you what I think is unclear, and get my wife (who is capable but not technical) to do the same. We'll tell no one about it, and you'll get an alternative point of view.

I'm really busy and have very little time, but I don't like being purely negative, hence the offer.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com