DIGITAL TRAINING & ONLINE PRODUCT TOURS

Digital training and online product tours are a powerful extension of the Internet. They can act like websites, but for a specific product or services. And, even more important, they make use of a combination of audio, video, and/or animation in an interactive format to help educate and inform. They give new and potential clients in-depth information that is somewhat like an online learning course, only more fun and engaging. When you take a look at these things, you get the sense education in schools is at the cusp of some very big changes!

SAMPLE #1: EPSON

Client Profile: Epson is a maker of consumer electronics, include computer equipment such as the Stylus CX5200 printer/fax/copier.

Project Challenge: Epson wanted an online product tour that shows off all of the features of several products in their high-end printer line. It needed to be as compelling as video, but without the sluggish download time and lack of interactivity.

Project Solution: Flash technology was the perfect solution. This product tour allows the user to zoom in and out, turn the printer 360 degrees, click on highlights and buttons to find more about specific product features, and much more. It includes music and an animated, voice over guided tour. When played on the web, it is many times faster than video, and it looks sharper. After the success of the original, Epson has done several other Flash product tours.

SAMPLE #2: HEWLETT PACKARD

Client Profile: HP is a mega-company. In their own words, "HP is a leading global provider of products, technologies, solutions and services to consumers and business." The company's offerings span IT infrastructure, personal computing and access devices, global services, and imaging and printing.

Project Challenge: HP Top Tools is a set of free software tools developed to help server and network administrators manage their systems. The goal of this flash animation was to give a fun and engaging explanation of HP's software, so that more HP users would take advantage of these tools.

Project Solution: Rather than a stuffy, dry outline of the software, I offered to create a set of dynamic, quirky characters (Twitch and Larry) and a simple story line which would entertain the audience HP wanted to reach. The HP Top Tools Agents and Twitch's imaginary escapades with the "vending machine police" certainly did the trick.

SAMPLE #3: SANDISK

Client Profile: SanDisk is the world's leading supplier of flash data storage products in consumer, OEM and industrial markets. Since its inception, the company has had a single mission; provide customers with the most reliable, highest performance flash memory products.

Project Challenge: Teaming up with my Flash design partner, Brian McBride, we created a series of Flash based product tours for SanDisk and their syndication service, Tentoe, Inc. These web based applications act as an interactive sales tool aiding in increased product sales.

Project Solution: The tour has everything from voice over, 360 degree views, zoom-in and zoom-out features, and plenty of interactivity to keep potential customers interested.

SAMPLE #4: ENFISH FIND

Client Profile: Enfish is listed among the first knowledge management companies to appear with a truly workable solution. Their patented technology enables organizations to leverage the information they already own by dynamically integrating an employee’s working information on their PC with an organization’s enterprise applications and shared data sources.

Project Challenge: Enfish created a powerful piece of software which helps computer users access files and information instantly, without having to remember where it is or even what it is called. Because it is not an easy task to explain just exactly how effectively this works, I was asked to write a flash driven demo covering the benefits of the Enfish Find application. It needed to be concise, engaging, and informative. The key objective was to have the user download and install a free trial version of the Enfish Find software at the end of the demo.

Project Solution: In the script, I knew it was essential to first address the pain experienced by Enfish's target audience. This was followed with a concise description of what the solution looked like, and how Enfish's software could provide relief. The flash animation worked in tandem with the script in order to provide a more compelling user experience, and enhance understanding of the Enfish Find solution.