Originally published 2021/06/05
Knowing your audience is absolutely one of the most important takeaways I had from this week's Flipgrip exercise. When I was rating the videos' effectiveness, I should have done so considering who the audience was, no just from my perspective. I was critical of the XD video without realizing that that video was not made for me, an XD user, but rather for an XD novice. And the cooking video's audience includes all demographics, not specifically even adults.
For this assignment, I am aware that my audience is new to using JASP, specifically new to importing datasets into JASP. They have limited familiarity with the software and are looking for information about this one particular task. So I know what their problem is and what they will be looking for. They likely won't want any extra information or tidbits that don't pertain to the exact task at hand. Still, they would benefit from some troubleshooting information. It would be helpful to know what precisely they struggle with when doing this task, but at least I know the outcome they are aiming for.
I have made instructional videos before and worked in Camtasia, so luckily, those parts are familiar. I am new to JASP and new to writing a script, so I think those aspects will be my main focus. I want to be familiar with JASP so that my movements are smooth and confident. I also want to do a lot of testing to see what issues students could run into. For the script, I tend to ramble when I get excited and include many unnecessary details. I like to pass on every little bit of information possible to make my audience as successful as possible. Still, of course, that is not the most effective or efficient way to inform. So for my script, I will focus on narrowing down the information to just the essential bits, just enough to make them successful without overloading them. I also want to make sure I don't have more narration than I do on-screen action. As a learner, I get bored or distracted when there is not action on screen to compliment the narration, so if I am speaking I want to be sure there are actions to support the information, and vice versa.
I am definitely a trial-and-error type of learner, and I love to jump into the deep end right away. So my approach will probably be making a few different versions of the video throughout the week to familiarize myself with the process and know my strengths and weaknesses. In a professional setting, I am aware this is not the most efficient manner. Still, I do think it yields a stronger product.