This video walkthrough was made to help employees of Vivint use a software that was new to them, Podium, to message customers.
Vivint began phasing out tools that had been previously used to message customers, and the replacement for these tools was Podium. The organization needed an introduction to Podium that could help them to access the service, log in, and walk them through using the software for key tasks. I chose video as a potential format for filling this need, since video has strengths for visualizing processes and establishing best practices.
I began the video production process by doing a task analysis on the use of Podium. I met with a few stakeholders and subject matter experts (SMEs) to outline the tasks that employees would perform. I then broke those tasks out into actions that could be demonstrated in a video. I wrote out a script, detailing the steps of each action and task in clear and descriptive language. From there I had the elements of a storyboard, and could then block the video out with descriptions of what would be on screen, what movements would need to be demonstrated on screen, the text that would need to accompany the spoken words and motion graphics, and assemble the storyboard.
I recorded both the screen captures and spoken narration myself, and began piecing the assets together into a rough cut version ready for review. After review by our stakeholders, I put the styling touches onto the video, following both the Vivint style guidelines and an overall look and feel that I had in mind.
Text and image animations were done in Adobe After Effects, using tools like keyframes, time remapping, and motion paths to illustrate and draw attention to certain parts of the screen capture. I also animated the text in a way that both held the attention and gave visual interest to the video. Once the styling and animating were done, the video was reviewed again and submitted for publishing.
The video was deemed a success based on feedback from the onboarding trainer. She found it indispensable for providing a proven path for new employees to follow for setting up and using the service.