AP 09 Users Guide

[gabe]

I understand, Bob. Good luck with alternatives until we can provide PDF versions.

[Mike Dickinson]

Gabe, in addition to physically having a user guide, may I suggest you all take a different approach to some of the documentation? In past versions and in '09, I see the same regrettable trend: what I call a 'dance across the menus,' and a very simplified one at that. By 'dance' I mean the documentation goes menu item by menu item, when often what the user wants to know is to how to achieve a certain end result.

For example, say I want to enable certain audience segments to skip a section of the presentation, or to test out and skip it. Or, say I want to build a menu. Or, say I want to ensure that learners hear ALL the audio on selected slides, and I need them to branch from certain slides. Going to individual menu items doesn't help much, so I have to explore many menu items and experiment - which I don't have time for.

Also, a lot of the help states the obvious without giving rationale why I would select one option over another. Here's just one of many examples: "Forward/back/pause controller: Display/hide the navigation controls in the Articulate Player."

It turns out that hiding those controls in conjuction with building branching on the PowerPoint slide is a cool way to do some of the stuff I mentioned above. But the description doesn't give a clue as to when I might want to hide it.

The way to improve this aspect of the documentation is to confer with lots of users to learn the kinds of things they want to do. I suspect Articulate already does a pretty good job of that based on the products themselves. Now, please make the documentation more needs- or scenario-based from the course developer's perspective. That would be a wonderful help!

Thanks!

[gabe]

Hi Mike- Thanks very much for taking the time to share this excellent feedback. We definitely appreciate it!

[ekonsultant]

I agree with Mike - the online help is really poor - it simply states the obvious. I know about this approach - I ran a company that developed user guides and online help - it's quick but ultimately useless (but everyone does it Microsoft included).

For mainstream products the best manuals are written by third parties and are found on the shelves of Waterstones but Articulate hasn't got there yet so the missing manual is a big black mark for an otherwise excellent product.

The manual is mostly written already (in the great stuff in Gabe's blog) but it needs somene to filter it and present it between two sexy looking covers.

Tom Kuhlman's book is good but not nearly complete enough for it to be called the 'missing manual'. There are some good sections on audio and video though. Maybe it could be Chapter 1... ;-)

I'd volunteer to write 'Articulate for Dummies' but I'm a little to busy at the moment designing e-learning!

[Wordware]

Actually, there is a third-party book in the works. My name is Tim McEvoy and I am with Wordware Publishing, Inc. We have been working with the Articulate developers on a comprehensive manual since before '09 was released and expect to have a book available in March. As you can imagine, we would like to have gotten it out sooner, but wanted to take the time to have the manuscript technically reviewed by Articulate. That process is happening right now. Here are the book details and a link to our web site.

Essential Articulate Studio '09
ISBN: 1-59822-058-6 // 978-159822-058-2
$39.95 * 750 pages (projected, but it may be bigger)

Essential Articulate Studio ’09 is designed to help novice to intermediate users of Articulate Studio ’09 get the most from using these tools—Presenter, Engage, Quizmaker, and Video Encoder—to develop quality informational and instructional materials.

KEY FEATURES AND BENEFITS:
 Covers each tool in depth, from basics to advanced functionalities that can really make your projects stand out.
 Additional important information on rapid e-learning and instructional design basics.
 Written so that each chapter stands alone but can also be used as a progressive “course” in using the Articulate Studio ’09 tools.
 Tips provided to improve the quality and value of the information and instruction you build.
 Real-world, pragmatic focus.
 Designed so that new users can get up to speed quickly and previous users can quickly delve into more advanced functionalities.
 Includes hundreds of screen captures, many with callouts, to reinforce the discussions and how-to steps provided throughout the book.
 Provides planning guides and other tools to make building information and instruction easier and faster.
 Most chapters contain scripted or general practices and all contain a final recap of the most important points and insights from the chapter.
 Meets the needs of a diverse audience of users, including trainers, instructional designers, instructors, content experts, and faculty involved in developing online information and instruction. Also useful for corporate communications and marketing professionals.

This book is unique because it can serve as both a tutorial for the Studio ’09 products and as a primer on designing and building good information and instruction with these tools. The advice and insights are practical and take into account the we-need-it-yesterday environments that most people who use these tools operate in.

The authors, Patti Shank, PhD, CPT, and Jennifer Bircher, MCIS, are both instructional design practitioners with over 35 years of combined experience, working day-to-day on informational and instructional projects for business, higher education, nonprofit, government, and professional development clients. Because of their wealth of experience, they are able to provide real-world perspectives, which is especially valuable to anyone who is just starting to build information and instruction.

As with all of our books, we like to make special offers to forum readers to buy the book directly from our web site (Wordware Publishing, Inc.). The following coupon code is good for a 35% discount off the retail price:

as90586

Thanks and have a great day!!

[GerryWaz]

WOO-HOO! Great news!

Thanks for sharing with us!

[ekonsultant]

Great news!

I am running an Instructional Design and Articulate course for a client next week and it will be good to give the book as a reference (as there is no manual)!

Thanks Wordware.

[patti2003]

Jennifer and I (authors of the upcoming Studio '09 book) are really excited about getting this book out. We're both long-time instructional designers and KNOW how badly this is needed. So we've been writing nonstop since the release. (Holiday? WHAT holiday?)

The book is oriented towards novice to intermediate users. We are including a bunch of the great blog tips as well as tips of our own.

Patti
Learning Peaks, LLC: Instructional Technology Consultants

[eQuixotic]

The book sounds great, Tim and Patti. Any way to get on a mailing list to be notified when the book comes out?

[gabe]

Good news: Downloadable help manuals for Studio '09 are now available! Read more about that and other support news here:

What’s New in Articulate Support?