A help article can tell someone to “customize the brief” and still leave them wondering which text they are supposed to change. Reading the article aloud will not answer that question. A short video can show the right field and the next action while the article keeps the exact instructions easy to find.
Select one step a reader cannot picture
Find the point that sends people back to support: a hard-to-find control, an unfamiliar choice or a result they cannot recognize. Write down the starting page, the action and the visible result. Leave commands, URLs and plan exceptions in text so readers can copy or search them.
Consider a help article about choosing a video type. The narrower task here is “Find the Conversation style, customize its example brief and identify where to use it.” The footage comes from ngram’s public Conversation Video Style page. It shows the product side of the lesson. The help-article brief below is an editorial example.
Provide the article and the product destination
Use the article as the source for terminology and the intended sequence. Give ngram the product URL separately and say which screen the viewer should recognize. A useful brief is “Show someone making their first Conversation video where to select the style and which fields to customize. End on Use this style.” When an existing recording or a sequence of screenshots already shows the action, provide that instead. The help article conversion guide covers choosing a suitable source.
Take control of the browser when the task needs you
Start a compatible Studio project, ask ngram to browse the product URL and follow Live Preview. When control passes to you, complete the requested action inside the live page and choose Done so ngram can continue. The Browser Handoff guide also explains how to report a step you cannot complete.
In the captured session, the creator has control of the public Conversation style page and Done is available. A task behind sign-in requires an authorized account and an attended session; this particular walkthrough uses a public page.
Compare the exported walkthrough with the article
The 20-second result first identifies the Conversation style. It highlights the Style selector, then shows the bracketed brief fields and the Use this style button. A support reader who could not find the editable text now has a frame to recognize. The clip ends at the button; it does not show a new project being created afterward.
Check the control names, the order of the steps and what is visible at the moment each instruction is spoken. If the article promises a result beyond the final frame, add footage of that result or narrow the promise. Place the video beside the matching step, keep the written directions and assign someone to recheck both when that screen changes. See the help center video workflow for deciding where to put the clip.
