Do Good Design

I’ve been having great fun this week checking out how websites are using short video clips to show people how to do something. I’ll be doing video for the next website Do Good Design is redesigning, Five Senses, and there are a number of benefits to your website if you do it well.

First off, what’s a good educational video clip like? Check out a UK-based website called Video Jug that gives your professionally produced, easy to understand videos on anything from How to Choose a Knitting Yarn (yay!) to How to Make a Business Plan.

Video Jug is like YouTube or Google Video except it’s not full of pixelated teenagers skateboarding or indie bands — it’s just How To clips. One of my favourite things is hearing the uppercrust English voiceover instructing you in each step.

a good video makes it simple and easy

I’ve been using their videos to learn how to add a new yarn on while knitting, and love that they break it down into very simple steps, have a crisp, high-quality video with no pixelation that allows you to really see what’s going on, and have added titles and Step 1, 2 and 3 to break down the task into chunks.

It can seem a bit ridiculous, but when you’re really trying to learn something for the first time — and over the web, at that — then it’s actually very helpful to have it presented as if to a 7 year old.

I’ll be investigating video much more over the coming months, as I look into how to film and edit the clips, which services to use, and then finally how to present it on your website, so I’ll be writing a lot more on this subject.

Your favourite video clips?

Please let me know websites you’ve come across with helpful videos (for the knitters and spinners, may I recommend Joy of Handspinning, whose 15 second video clips demonstrate all different aspects of spinning — brilliant).