Planning and Organization for Software Simulations

A few weeks ago, I listed several tips for recording software simulations. This week, I thought I’d provide you with some tips to help you plan and get organized for your simulations:

• Determine ahead of time how to deal with long download times resulting from multi-step software simulations. For example, any task that uses more than 20 slides and contains narration for each slide could be separated into parts: Part 1, Part 2, etc. 
•  Plan how you will organize the simulations ( chapter, section, topic, etc.) and use that organization as part of the simulation titles. For example, “Chapter 1: Logging In.” 
• Create a file naming standard to ensure all simulations use unique file names and titles. 
• Create a word usage standards document that defines the styles and the words you will use for your directions. For example: 
• Bold the onscreen object to which the directions refer. 
• Use “Click the Next button” when referring to clicking an onscreen button. 
• Use “Select Group from the list” when referring to making a selection from a drop-down list. 
• Create a template standards document that lists the caption styles, arrows, rectangles, etc. contained in the template, along with when and how to use them.