The Software Video Maturity Model

Phase 3: Scalable

The only way to become scalable with your video content is to utilize automation to do the grunt work. The "boring stuff".

Automation and Al are used to generate videos. Text-to-speech software (which continues to get better every year) is used to generate voiceover. Closed captioning is automatically generated with every update.

Suddenly, videos can be made to scale. As Dave Derington explains: 

My goal has always been... to release video content adjacent to product releases on the same day. And, oh my God, the people that I work with, when they see that happen, it's magic. It's simply Magic.

Because those who know how much it took to get there, the value to the company, and say we created this function that could create these videos at scale and launch the same day, that is so significant. 

When you are Scalable, 50% or more of your content is covered by video, and 3-minute videos only take 1-3 hours to make. Furthermore, this process allows you to make 50+ different language versions, each in a matter of minutes.

For SaaS teams making screenshare videos, it's a matter of writing a script, telling a program when and where to move the mouse cursor, click, add highlights, or zoom in, and then let the computer do the rest. There are no editing skills required, which means a company can jump straight from the Reactive phase to the Scalable phase with the right tool. The videos are high quality, and share a sense of continuity and consistency.

The bane of editors in the Reactive and Organized phases was starting from scratch on a video when a SaaS product has been updated. Does this sound familiar? You've already recorded all the videos for a new upcoming release, and then the software changes.

Now you've got to go back and update all the videos - even for something as simple as an icon getting moved. Until now, there's been no way to remake dozens or hundreds of videos in time for the release date. 

When you are in the Scalable phase, that frustration is a thing of the past. Just use the same script you used before, change whatever needs to be changed (sometimes it's as simple as replacing a word) and run it through the automation program. 

What used to be time-wasting, repetitive work is now an afterthought.

Currently, there are very few SaaS companies that are in the Scalable phase, which is considered to be the best current practice. Most companies either continue to beef up their video team to keep their head above water, or simply give up on their video library.

I'll say it again - the only way to build a robust library, one that keeps up with software updates and released in multiple languages, is with automation.

The good thing about automation is that it continues to get better with time. Scalable is the best current practice, and is where businesses should want to be now. But where do businesses want to be in the future? What is the one, five, and ten year plan for SaaS video production? 

Phase 4: Optimized

Videate imagines a future that goes beyond the best practices of today. We see a future where nearly all software products are fully covered- as in, a full video library where every iteration of every product is covered in every language. This is the Optimized phase of the Software Video Maturity Model.

Of course, this phase is also heavily reliant on automation, only now, videos are taking advantage of Continuous Delivery (CD) in the same way that software teams are beginning to. Any new software update would be automatically logged by a program and continuously generating new or updated videos. As programs update, the corresponding video would update with it.

As Derington foresees,

We are talking now, education and documentation and all the stuff is no longer extrinsic to your engineering and product team.

We're part of it. We're part of the whole notion and we're connecting all of the product knowledge together."

The idea of having a product, update, or function with no matching video will be a thing of the past. 

Furthermore, as machine learning continues to improve, automated language translation will be able to translate videos into every language, all at once, without the need for a human translator. For now, even in the Scalable phase, it's highly recommended you have a native reader check any auto-translation before you publish your video. But, one day, maybe even one day soon, you might not have to.

In this future Optimized phase, is there still room for that human touch? Absolutely. As Derington explains, "Can the technology really do that? Yes, it can. Am I gonna lose my job or role? No. Think about scale. We need your skills, your ability to create video. This is a scale engine for you, right? You can do more with less."

Basically, this takes the boring, manual, frustrating elements of a video team's job and leaves them to focus on more strategic, cutting edge, creative work that is both personally gratifying and grows your company's brand.