How to Create a Screencast to Justify Design Choices

1© Karen Thompson ● Department of English ● University of Idaho

Deliverable 2:

English 317: Technical Writing

About Screencasts

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Screencasts capture all or a portion of a computerscreen while the author narrates what the viewer isseeing in a voice-over audio.

Screencasts are used by businesses andorganizations for a wide variety of purposes andviewed by both internal and external audiences.

How to create your screencast.• You need a microphone, and the one in your computer will

be fine for this project.

• Your screencast must be hosted on a site that allows users to play it without having to download the file.

• I recommend using Screencast-O-Matic (Mac users also need to download Soundflower to record) or Jing (all users). These tools also have a means of hosting your file. See tools and resources for more information.

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Screencast:subject, audience, and purpose.

• The subject of your screencast will be justifying the design choices you made when creating the infographic.

• The audience will be a hypothetical project team.

• Your purpose will be to clearly connect your design choices to principles of graphic design.

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• You are practicing how to articulate design choices using the language of graphic design.

• Even should you never create another infographic, the transferable skill with this part of the project is being able to communicate in professional environments where visual design needs are being discussed/planned.

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To make those connections clear, write a script and practice it.

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The goal is not to try to sound like a professional broadcaster, but to practice and develop clarity in your presentation speaking style.

As you work on your script.

• Use the sketch and notes you created when designing the layout of the infographic.

• Briefly define each design principle you have applied and then explain how you applied it.

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Example: connecting color theory to a color used in the infographic.

• According to color theory, global audiences respond to the color green by associating it with nature. I chose this color because the data I am visualizing is about the environment. I also decided to vary the range of values within each of the focal points of this design to achieve color harmony.

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Be sure you understand the definition, so you do not misapply the principle.

• According to color theory, red helps the data pop or stand out to users. In this section of the infographic, I used red, and as you can see, the color really pops out.

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Writing a clear and focused script will help you avoid rambling.

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Rambling.

Ramblers often just focus on talking about the purpose of the infographic and/or justify design choices by saying what they thought looked good, and/or naming a graphic design principle and then just saying stuff like “as you can see I applied the principle of color theory in my color choices.” All of which is just plain silly.

Continue to apply the principles of effective prose style when writing the script but adapt these for the ear by keeping sentences short.

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You should be able to say each sentence in your script in a single breath.

Your script will need:

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IntroductionAbout 10 seconds.

Key PointsUp to 3 minutes

ConclusionAbout 10 seconds.

Timing

Yourscreencastisinternalcommunication,sotheaudiencewouldbeexpectingit.Noneedforahighlyformalintroduction.

Thekeypointsofthescreencastshouldbelogicallystructuredandclearlymovebetweenonepartoftheinfographictoanotherasyoujustifydesignchoices.

Keeptheconclusionsimple.Invitingaudiencetoaskquestionsorgiveyoufeedback,andremembertothankthem.

Key Points Are the Design Principles.

• Keep the screencast sharply focused on justifying the design.

• To do that, go over your infographic before composing the body of your screencast script and note all graphic design principles you applied.

• Remember to write a brief definition before you write how you applied these.

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Under Tools and Resources, you will find options for creating your screencast. Choose the best option based on the advice you find there. Here is one possible option: Screencast-O-matic.

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Besureyoucanscrolldownyourinfographicasyouarerecording.

Do a test recording.• First, be certain you completed the technology

check on Orientation Day 1, and are using the recommended browser for this course. If not, go there, do that.

• Close all other programs and browser windows to ensure you have enough memory.

• If the test recording fails, follow the troubleshooting steps under Tools & Resources.

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Delivery:continuetoapplytheseconceptswhenrecordingyourvoice-overnarration.

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• Vocal variety: pitch, tone, volume, and rate.

• Pausing.

• Diction

Exercises to help you improve your speaking style can be found under Tools & Resources.