Designer's
Toolkit:
How to Choose
a Communications Medium
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The second key task in planning the presentation for a technical communication product is choosing a medium for delivering the information to users.
In many cases, clients already have an idea of the medium they would like you to use when they give you an assignment. In these instances, you need to assess whether clients be able to achieve their communication goals with the medium they have requested.
If not, you need to recommend an alternative medium and explain why you are making a different recommendation. In other cases, clients ask for your recommendation on the best medium to use. In such instances, you need to choose the most appropriate medium.
These assessments and choices are based in part, on practical considerations, involving a balance of the needs of the user and the needs of the client.
These assessments and choices are also based on the nature of the content. Is it visual? Does it involve sounds? Is it presenting a concept of some sort? The answers to these questions help you determine whether the content might be most effectively communicated through words, pictures, sounds, or some combination of these three.
This section introduces you to the media used by technical communicators and suggest issues to consider when choosing media for your projects. Specifically, this chapter describes:
If you’ve read a novel and also watched the film adaptation of it, you’ve likely noticed differences between the two versions. The novel probably provided more information; it likely provided background on characters that the film only alluded to and presented material left out of the film version. The film, however, probably seemed more "real." For example, you could see the faces of characters and hear their voices¾ especially the inflections.
These differences exist because novels and films are different. Each is best at delivering a certain type of message. Screenwriter Sid Field notes that a novel tells a story through words and a film tells a story through pictures, which are supported by words. Consider how this theoretical difference plays out in practice. To paint a picture of a scene, a novel uses a lengthy prose description while a film presents the same scene in a single frame.
Novels and films differ in many other ways. One is length. Although novelists usually consider the length of their work, they are not constrained to a certain number of pages, unless they write formula novels, such as romance novels. In contrast, most theatrical films run approximately 110 minutes. Screenwriters must therefore condense stories to fit within this time constraint. As a result, character developments that occur over the course of several chapters in a novel are either dropped or exposed in a line or two of dialogue in a film.
As the same story can be presented as a novel or film, so the same technical information can be presented in different forms. These forms are called media (singular, medium). A medium is a means of presenting and delivering information to users. Technical communicators present information to users in printed materials and online, and through audio, video, and "live" presentations.
Consider the description of a procedure for submitting a time card. A manual might provide step-by-step instructions for completing the time card. Users would follow the procedures as they fill out a printed time card, then submit the time card through the mail. In contrast, an online procedure might present users with an electronic time card, then "walk" users through the process of completing each part. As the last step in the process, users could instruct the computer to send the electronic time card to the payroll department.
This difference in presentation among media led seminal communications theorist Marshall McLuhan to comment, "The medium is the message." Although novelists and screenwriters are constrained to one medium, technical communicators often use several media to deliver the same message, as is the case with multimedia. With multimedia, technical communicators use a combination of text, graphics, animation, photographs, audio, and video to present a message to readers. And, unlike novelists and screenwriters, technical communicators no longer specialize in one medium, but must be fluent in using several to provide users with the information they need.
Not only do media affect the way we communicators present a message, but the choice of media also changes the way we deliver information to users. For example, if you wanted to obtain a novel or a film, you would most likely go to stores that specialize in a particular medium¾ a book store for the novel and a video store for the film. Similarly, technical communicators deliver messages to users through a variety of media. For example, printed messages are delivered to users through manuals, brochures, and newsletters. Online information is distributed to users through diskettes, information networks, and compact disks (also called CD-ROM).
To make informed decisions about the most appropriate medium for communicating a certain piece of information, you first need to be familiar with the possible choices.
Technical communicators use five general types of media of media to provide technical information to users:
The next several sections describe each medium and its uses and identify the ways in which technical communicators deliver information using each.
Print refers to any communication product that is provided to users on paper, such as manuals, books, brochures, catalogs, and newsletters. Print is ideal for presenting a variety of types of information. It can:
Technical communicators typically use print to prepare reference, how-to (user’s guides), workbooks, job aids, brochures, and newsletters. When presenting information in print, you can use text, graphics, and photographs.
Printed materials offer many advantages to users. The greatest is users’ familiarity with this medium. When most of the people in the work world today learned to read, they did so with printed information. They learned from textbooks, picked up news from newspapers, and found out about new products from brochures and catalogs. When users search for information, then, many instinctively think first of a printed document.
Another advantage of printed materials is that they are "portable;" that is, users can take materials with them almost anywhere and they do not need special equipment to view the information.
Although print is a portable, familiar medium to users, printed materials present many limitations. One is that they are not interactive. Users cannot easily tailor printed materials to their needs unless someone reprints all of the material. Printed materials can display only words, graphics, and photographs; they cannot present moving images. Finally, as the name suggest, printed materials must be printed. In many instances, the production process requires special and time-consuming preparation of the materials. (Production is the process of preparing information for duplication, such as preparing material for printing.) 24-hour copying services and laser printers are not intended for many of the types of materials that technical communicators produce. Many materials require two to four weeks to print, as well as several weeks of production time.
Some printed materials are now provided to customers on compact disks (CD-ROM, which literally stands for compact disk read-only memory), which contain the word processing files for the information in a form that customers can easily print. Customers print the materials themselves, making as many copies as they would like rather than purchasing individual copies. Organizations usually use CD-ROM when they have several large manuals to ship to customers at one time, such as the manuals accompanying a complex computer system.
Online materials refer to information intended to be displayed on a computer. This information includes words (also called text), pictures (graphics and photos), moving images, including video and animation (several drawings displayed in a sequence to give the impression of movement), and sound. When the information displayed on the computer includes audio and video, it is called multimedia because the computer is displaying multiple media at the same time.
Online information is ideal for presenting a variety of types of information. The Society for Technical Communication classifies the types of online information as:
Online information is distributed to users on diskettes, through computer networks (either within an organization or through an information service, such as America Online), or on a CD-ROM (compact disk read-only memory).
Online offers many advantages. According to Nagle (1995), online communication is:
Image-oriented communication means that users receive information through visual images, such as pictures, videos, and icons rather than words. Images often communicate more powerfully and efficiently than words, as the old saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" suggests. Consider icons, for example. On most computer software, icons are symbols that represent commands users can instruct the computer to perform.
Interactive communication means that users can tell the computer what they want and the computer responds to the request. For example, when users want to look up a particular topic, they can type in a term for the topic they are interested in, and the system will either display a list of choices or take users directly to the desired information. Similarly, in a tutorial, users can work with simulations of real-life situations, such as an airplane failure, to "try out" various responses to the situation in a safe environment. If users make a poor choice to respond to the airplane failure, for example, they can simply start over. No lives are placed in jeopardy.
Intimate communication means that the computer can tailor information to the needs of users. The computer can make use of information it already has about users. For example, if the system already has a file with an employee name and department number, the system can automatically fill in that information when the user is completing a form. By doing so, the system not only demonstrates to users that the system is "smart," but also reduces the likelihood of users incorrectly entering information. Similarly, the computer can ask users for information and tailor the information accordingly. For example, at the beginning of the tutorial Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, "Mavis" asks users to identify their educational level and level of typing skills. The typing lessons "she" presents are then tailored to someone at that educational level.
Immediate communication means that users can get information instantly on the computer. Hypertext is a means of providing users with immediate information. Hypertext is a function of online information that lets communicators provide a direct link between a term in one part of the communication product and a section with related or additional information elsewhere in the communication product. Users click on a highlighted term and the system automatically "jumps" to the related section.
Another way in which online information is immediate is in its capacity to provide the most current information. This is possible if the information is distributed through a computer network and users receive a fresh copy of the information each time they use it. Online networks can "scoop" more conventional sources in providing information. For example, news of the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City was available to users of the Internet almost a half-hour before CNN broke the news (Nagle, 1995).
Online information presents technical communicators with several challenges. The foremost is that it requires computers for viewing. Online information, therefore, is not fully portable. Although notebook computers let users take online information to places without electricity, even notebook computers have their limits. As one person points out, "you can’t read an online newspaper in the bathtub."
Another challenge is access. Currently, about 40 percent of the households in the United States have personal computers. But most of those households have an annual income of $50,000 or more. Personal computers are still out of financial reach for many people and those who cannot afford personal computers do not have easy access to online information.
Online information also presents technical challenges. Because of differences in equipment and software, information prepared on one computer cannot always be viewed on another. In some cases, the problem is a physical one with the hardware. For example, an online document that uses color might use all 256 colors available with some displays. The display used by the user, however, can only display 16 colors. In such an instance, users cannot see the information. All they see is an error message that likely frustrates them.
In other cases, the technical problems stem from the software. Users might need special software to view the information but might not have it. The software industry is working towards resolving these problems. Another software problem is compatibility. In some instances, the software used to display the information is not compatible with other software on the computer and causing problems.
Audio refers to sound recordings. These sound recordings are usually provided to users as cassette tapes. They are ideal for presenting general concepts that can be easily remembered. Examples of audiotapes include books and lectures on tape. Audiotapes are primarily used in training, and, according to the TRAINING Magazine Annual Industry Survey, are one of the most popular forms of providing training materials (1995, 1994, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989) .
The primary advantage of audio is the portability of audiotapes. Users can listen to take them anywhere they can take a cassette player. Those people who spend a lot of time in their cars, for instance, listen to audiotapes in an effort to make the best use of their time, as do people who exercise, such as joggers who wear Walkmansâ while jogging.
Audio presents several disadvantages, however. Because users will be listening to audiotapes "on the go," users are not likely to be able to take notes. People generally listen three to four times faster than narrators can speak, so users have difficulty focusing their attention on the audiotape. Therefore, audio cannot be effectively used to present specific facts and figures, which users have more difficulty remembering. They should be less than 20 minutes long and used to share a single main point, such as the market for a new product or tips for conducting a performance appraisal.
Video refers to audiovisual programs that are delivered to users through videocassettes, a broadcast network, or satellite transmission. Transmission over a network or satellite can be "live" or of a recorded video.
Video is ideal for providing training on visual material that cannot be brought into the classroom, such as driver’s education and manufacturing operations. Video is ideal, too, for announcements, capturing the excitement that usually accompanies such occasions. Video is also ideal for presentations on sensitive subjects, that is subjects with the potential for strong emotion.
Communication through video ideally involves moving images, whether of live (called videographic images) or created (called animated images), still images, text (both spoken and displayed on the screen), and audio, including narration, acting, music, and sound effects.
Video offers the advantages of showing and telling; that is, users can see and hear the message. As a result, a video presentation often explains a complicated physical procedure far more clearly than an explanation in text that is printed or presented online.
Similarly, because video has a visual component, it is ideally suited for situations in which users must be motivated to take interest in a subject. Through visual effects, the video can build excitement for the subject.
Some video presentations are broadcast to users; that is, the presentation originates from one location and is transmitted by satellite or cable to another. Some of the broadcast systems allow for "two-way broadcasts." In some instances, both a video image and sound travel between the broadcast site (from which the presentation originates) and receive site (where users view the presentation). More commonly, the broadcast sites send both video images and sound and the receive sites send only sound. Both are used for live broadcasts and let users at one location talk to users at another. Two-way broadcasts are primarily used for business meetings, in which participants generally ask questions of a speaker, and for teaching, in which an instructor at one site teaches people at several locations. The National Technological University, for example, lets students in, say, Arizona, take courses from a participating university in Alaska. Figure 4-1 shows an example of a two-way broadcast network.
Site One Atlanta |
video and audio ðï audio only |
Site Two Raleigh |
video and audio øõ audio only |
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Site Three Miami |
Figure 4-1: How a Two-Way Broadcast Works
Video also has its disadvantages. Video does not work well with subjects that have no visual component, such as programming and recordings of presentations so that others can review the videotape afterwards. In the latter example, stationary camera is placed in front of a speaker and the result is a "talking head," a video of the speaker. Such "talking head" presentations are known for putting viewers to sleep. Archival videos are often not used and are generally not worth the effort placed in producing them.
Videos are not portable either. Viewing videos requires special equipment, including a television monitor and a videocassette recorder (VCR). To receive satellite transmissions, viewing video also requires a costly satellite dish and reception system.
Another disadvantage of video is the same as that for audiotape: users have a limited attention span. The ideal video, then, is only 12 to 18 minutes (Carliner, 1987).
Live refers to situations in which information is presented through face-to-face communication. Examples include meetings, training classes, and presentations.
A live presentation in the business world primarily consists of a speaker and some type of visual (usually overhead transparencies but, more frequently, computer images displayed on an overhead projector). But a live presentation need not be limited to these two tools. You can include entertainment, slides, and professional talent into a live presentation.
Live communication has many advantages. Presentations can be prepared quickly and can be adjusted "on the fly." That is, a presenter can gauge an audience’s reaction and adjust to respond to audience needs. If the audience looks bored, for example, the presenter can present something that will enliven them. If the audience looks puzzled, the presenter can ask questions to find out what’s puzzling people and provide appropriate responses.
Live communication also presents some disadvantages. It offers no scheduling flexibility to users; either they attend the presentation or miss it. Another disadvantage is that no two presentations are identical. The audience is different, the presenter is in a different mood, and the result is a different dynamic. If the same presentation is given twice, then, the audience of the second might hear some different information from the audience of the first.
Although some technical communicators would like to characterize the process of choosing a medium as a scientific one, the choice is better characterized as a balancing act. Some of the issues to be balanced are similar to those pertaining to any technical communication project and to any medium. Other issues to be balanced are specific to the medium under consideration. In the end, the best choice is one that comes closest to meeting all of your communication and project goals.
Whatever media you are considering, always consider these issues:
The needs of the user. The information should be easily accessible to users and users should feel comfortable with the medium. For example, suppose you are preparing a handout for a conference and would like to deliver it in a 3-inch, 3-ring binder. If the cover is 9 x 12 inches, the total width of the binder is 21 inches. Yet seats in conferences are often only 19 inches apart. If each user has a binder fully opened, the binders would extend into the next user’s seat. The size of the binder, then, is not appropriate for users’ needs.
Similarly, suppose that you are considering presenting information on a computer. You need to make sure that all users have access to a computer that can display the information.
The needs of the client paying you to develop the communication product. Preparing information for different types of delivery media requires different amounts of time. If your client needs the communication product in a short amount of time, then you need to choose a medium with a short development time. If your client has a limited budget, you should limit your consideration to media whose development and delivery costs are modest.
The needs of the information. Certain types of information are best presented in certain media. For example, if you are preparing instructional materials, you would ideally like to provide users with an opportunity to interact with the material through exercises. This type of interaction is possible through CD-ROM for multimedia, diskettes, servers, live presentations, and teleconferences. It is not possible in printed materials and CD-ROM for print. Therefore, print and CD-ROM for print are not a preferred delivery media for interactive instructional programs.
Figure 4-2 presents the relationship among these three issues.
the needs of the user |
ð ï |
the needs of the paying client |
ø õ |
÷ ö |
|
the needs of the information |
Figure 4-2: General Considerations for Choosing a Communications Medium
Each communication medium has its advantages and disadvantages. Each also has considerations that can be advantages or disadvantages, depending on the communication problem you have been hired to solve. The following sections describe the issues raised when using each type of medium. For each, we explain the appropriate uses of the medium, the technical and financial issues you should consider, and the complexity of developing communication products in the medium.
Table 4-1, which follows the sections on issues with each communication medium, summarizes the considerations for various communication media and indicates the relative complexity of development, the relative time needed to develop, and the relative cost. Note that we provide only relative information, we do not provide specific figures. We do so because the industry has no reliable figures on this information. Because each assignment is unique and because each organization has its own development and publishing process, no two projects are sufficiently alike to present averages.
Issues with Communicating in Print: Print tends to be perceived as one of the most efficient means of communicating information. But is it? Consider the literacy of the audience. Printed materials are usually text materials and require reading skills. Yet 20 percent of the adult population of the United States is functionally illiterate (that is, they do not have a fifth grade reading level) and another 20 percent has difficulty with reading. Users therefore might not have the reading and mathematics skills needed to interpret the information you are providing them.
Some perceive that developing printed materials is the quickest and least expensive to develop. For most technical documents, this might be true. If elaborate production is used, however, (elaborate being many colors of ink used on the page instead of one or two, unique page sizes, custom design elements), the costs and time can substantially increase. The cost of preparing materials for print is generally reasonable but varies, depending on the complexity of the printing job, the number of pages to be printed, and the number of copies to be printed. The process of printing also takes time, which takes time that must be accounted for in the development process.
Most of the materials prepared by technical communicators need to be printed on printing presses intended for a large number of copies (quick copy services use printing machinery intended for smaller quantities). Such printing can take as many as three or four weeks.
As mentioned earlier, some organizations are distributing information on CD-ROM and asking customer organizations to print materials from the CD-ROM. Although this reduces printing costs for the organization distributing the information, it really doesn’t eliminate them. The costs are merely shifted to users. Furthermore, placing information on a CD-ROM in such a way that users can easily print it requires special programming considerations.
Although print is considered to be easy to produce, it is not considered easy to revise. Generally, when information changes, the entire printed communication product must be reprinted. Some organizations try to avoid this expense by only printing changed pages, which users insert into the original document, or supplements. Generally, users do not insert the changed pages and ignore the supplements.
Issues with Communicating Online: Online is increasingly becoming a popular medium for presenting technical information. When considering online as your medium of communication, consider the following technical and financial issues.
The first is authoring, a technical issue. Authoring is the process of preparing the information for presentation. Authoring, a technical skill that is primarily needed in production, should not be confused with composing, the skill of preparing messages for presentation online. A variety of software is available to author online information, each with a different purpose.
Some are intended for authoring tutorials, others are intended for authoring online help, and still others are intended for authoring online books. Some authoring systems can handle several media, others can only handle text and graphics. You usually need to consider alternate presentation methods when the authoring system cannot meet your needs.
When designing online information, also consider how much disk space the final version of the communication product might need. Generally, graphics, audio, and especially video need a lot of storage space and the more you use any of these media in your communication product, the more disk space the communication product needs. This, in turn, leads to two issues. First, you need to consider how you plan to distribute the information. If your communication product needs a lot of disk space, then you might not be able to distribute it on diskettes. Rather, you might need to use a CD-ROM, which can hold hundreds of times more information than a single diskette. Or you might place the product on a server computer that users connect to using telephone lines or some other networking tool. If the communication product needs a lot of disk space, then you also need to consider whether users will devote all of that disk space to your communication product or opt to save the disk space for something they perceive as more valuable.
Another technical consideration is the programming underlying the online communication product. It needs to be tested to make sure that it works in the intended way. All hypertext links, which let users "jump" from one part of a document to another, must be tested to make sure that users actually go to the intended place. Menus, buttons, and other navigational aids must also be tested to make sure that they really take users to the right places. If any intelligence is built into the online information (for example, the system automatically fills in known information when users complete forms), that, too must be tested. This type of testing differs from usability testing (which is described in Chapter 7). The type of testing described here only verifies that, when users choose a menu option, it really takes them to the intended location in the communication product. Usability testing determines how easily users can do that.
After the online communication product is developed, you need to make sure that you can also distribute the software that users need to view the information or that they already have it. Some authoring systems require that you pay a fee to distribute the component of that software that lets users view the communication product with the rest of the information. Similarly, you must obtain permission to use any copyright music, photos, artwork, and the like¾ check even if you used a clip art library. Often, obtaining permission involves paying fees.
If you distribute the online communication product on diskettes or CD-ROM, you cannot easily update it without reissuing the diskettes and preparing new CD-ROMs.
If you are just using text and simple graphics, online communication products are relatively easy and inexpensive to develop. If you are using audio or video images, the process become significantly more expensive and time consuming. Generally, you need to separately produce the audio and video segments as individual audio and videotapes, then record them back into the system.
When online information changes, it can be revised by changing the original document. If you distribute the information to users on a server, users always have access to the most current version of the information. If you distribute information to users on CD-ROM or diskettes, you need to duplicate and distribute the changes. Doing so can be as complex as initially distributing the software to users.
Issues with Communicating through Audio: Although audio is an efficient means of communication, production of audio recordings usually involves skills and facilities outside of a typical technical communication department. For example, audio requires special production considerations. The narrator that you hire shelled have a clear, easily understood voice, and be able to record on the first or second read through. Most technical communication departments generally hire someone from outside their organization for this task. Most narrators belong to a trade union and are represented by agents. You need to become familiar with union rules for pay and work conditions, and with the process for working through a talent agency to hire a narrator.
Recording itself needs to be happen in a specially equipped studio that blocks outside noise and has equipment for adjusting the sound and splicing together different parts (perhaps not consecutively) of the recording tape into a single, cohesive whole. Generally, you need to rent a studio (most organizations do not have an ongoing need for a studio) and hire a sound engineer to assist you.
You can add sound effects and background music but, before doing so, make sure you have the right to do so. Several music providers let you pay a one-time fee that entitles you to unlimited use of the music. Other means of charging for music and sound effects include a fee for each time the music or sound appears in the audio and by the number of people who might hear the audiotape. Especially avoid using popular music; generally, the cost of permission to use it is high and it is often difficult to obtain.
When information changes in a recorded audio presentation, the entire presentation must be produced again. Even if you use the same narrator, the presentation must be produced again because the new information must be inserted into the audio and the audiotape must be duplicated and distributed again.
Issues with Communicating through Video: Video has become increasingly important to technical communicators over the past several years as the cost of producing videos has decreased and the availability of playback equipment in the workplace has increased.
One of the primary financial concerns with using video is the budget. The budget for a video is generally much higher than that for communication products in other media that technical communicators use. Producing a video that holds onto users’ attention requires use of a professional video crew, which includes a director, camera person, and several stage hands. Most often, these people work at union rates. If you shoot on location, you might have to pay a fee for using the location (you always need permission). You also need to hire professional talent to appear onscreen.
In addition to production expenses are editing expenses; scenes are usually shot out of sequence and need to be placed in proper sequence. Doing so requires special equipment operated by specially trained people, called video editors. (They receive their job title because they edit the rough videotape into a polished one.)
As with other types of media, you need permission to use and distribute music and stock video footage. You also need a signed release form from each person who appears in the video giving you permission to use their likeness.
Another issue with video is playback equipment. In some cases, as is the case with the VHS cassette, the equipment is widely available and the concerns are limited. In other cases, the equipment users need is not widely available and expensive, such as the equipment needed to receive a satellite broadcast.
Revising taped video presentations usually involves producing the video again. In some instances, new scenes can be edited into the existing presentation. If a substantial amount of time has passed since the original presentation was first made, the video might need to be re-recorded because of seemingly "cosmetic" issues: the narrators and actors might have new haircuts (and look different than they do in the original) and the look of background scenes might have changed (for example, a production line used in the video might have been re-designed and rebuilt).
Issues with Communicating Live: Although live communication is the most flexible, in the sense that communicators can change the information until the minute it is communicated, producing a live presentation requires coordinating the logistics of the meeting or class. These details include:
Click here to see a chart that summarizes these issues.
Suppose you have been asked to provide information about the policies and procedures in the Mega Corporation. Mega has 2,000 employees at 7 sites. Each employee has a PC and access to the corporate computer network. The company generally changes at least 5 policies or procedures a month, requiring constant revision to the material.
When choosing a delivery medium, consider these issues:
Because a server is the only medium that meets the needs of the user, the client, and the information, it is the best possible choice of a delivery medium.
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