Survey Results: Software Videos and Product Documentation

We recently conducted a few quick LinkedIn polls about the relationship between Software Videos and Product Documentation (warning: this was not a scientific survey and we are still collecting additional data). The poll questions and results were as follows:

1. Who is responsible for creating and updating software videos in your company?

• Product Documentation = 52%
• Customer Education = 17%
• Technical Support = 11%
• Other = 20%

2. Which of the following software video types does your company produce the most?

• How to = 50%
• Tutorials = 13%
• Explainer = 31%
• Other = 6%

3. What percentage of your product features are covered by software videos?

• More than 50 percent = 6%
• 25-50 percent = 6%
• Less than 25 percent = 41%
• Text and screenshots only = 47%

As you can see, 88% of respondents use either text and screenshots only or have less than 25% product coverage. This data and more we have collected from hundreds of interviews re-confirms Videate’s north star. Our first White Paper “Passing the Video Turing Test” discusses our raison d'être further and explains what we do, how we do it, and why we do it.

What’s also interesting about video production is that the overwhelming majority of those surveyed said that they release software monthly or quarterly. The challenge of keeping software videos up to date with new releases is the problem. From the time a new software release is made to when the entire video asset library is fully updated is typically somewhere between “rarely” and “if we’re lucky by the next release.” And then the cycle starts all over again. Today’s users expect updated product videos!

Since our initial launch just a few months ago, Videate’s automation and AI engine have evolved very rapidly. We want to sincerely thank our early adopters who provided us with real-world examples, content, and important feedback and made this possible. A recent example of how important it is to partner with clients occurred in the last two weeks.

While DITA, XML, and AsciiDoc make the process of automating videos even easier, we fully support Google Docs and Word as the source. As you know, these tools do not enforce structured writing, but they are the most widely used. After studying hundreds and hundreds of Google and Word docs, and working with a couple of clients, we came up with a new way that you can “educate” the Videate engine without changing any formatting in your documents. This speeds up client onboarding and makes it an order of magnitude easier to use your existing documents to drive video production.

Videate automates the production of software videos. Through our patent-pending combination of AI, automation, and text-to-speech technology, we can take your existing documentation and produce quality videos faster than human beings at fraction of the cost. And keep your videos up to date with every software release, automate the capture of screenshots, and translate your videos into multiple languages.

We would love your feedback as well on the relationship between Product Documentation and Video Production. Just send an email to info@videate.io.