How to make instructions compact,clear and easier to absorb

Comments about LibriVox? Suggestions to improve things? News?
Post Reply
tyah
Posts: 17
Joined: January 6th, 2021, 8:06 pm

Post by tyah »

hello everyone!

It is great to be part of the community.

during my brief stay i noticed that there is a lot of technical and non technical text to absorb before even starting to record. Some text also include links to even more instructions and technical jargon.

I think it might be overwhilming specially for senior memebers. and could be a big barrier to entry for volunteers. It might also be more work on mods to clear things up.

this is an open discussion and would like to know what the rest of you think about this and how might we make instructions compact, clear and easier to absorb.
mightyfelix
LibriVox Admin Team
Posts: 11082
Joined: August 7th, 2016, 6:39 pm

Post by mightyfelix »

Thanks for your feedback! You're right that there is a lot of information up front to absorb before you can really start recording. We're always open to suggestions for how that can be simplified, and we try to break it into bite-sized pieces to make it easier. But I think that ultimately, there's a lot to read just because there is a lot to learn, and people come in with very different levels of experience. Some people know all about voice recording, but don't know how our work flow operates or what our values and goals are. Some people know a lot about LibriVox because they've listened to our recordings, but they have never recorded anything themselves. So we make all of the information available, knowing that some people will depend on it more than others. We also have the Help forum so that anyone can ask their question there if they can't find the information they're looking for.

Do you have any examples of information that was unnecessarily complicated or redundant? The wiki can always be improved!
philchenevert
LibriVox Admin Team
Posts: 24587
Joined: October 17th, 2010, 9:23 pm
Location: Basking by the Bayou
Contact:

Post by philchenevert »

Yes, we are aware of how overwhelming this can be and have tried really hard to ease people into what they need to know. I am a senior person myself and know the frustration involved in learning new stuff. I have made a bunch of videos because I am a visual learner that hopefully help. https://wiki.librivox.org/index.php/Instructional_Videos

But as Devorah said, if you have specific points that seem overly complicated just point us to them. In the meantime, thank you for sharing your observations with us; we really do want to help and can't do it without feedback like this. :thumbs:
Peruvian owls always hunt in pairs because they are inca hoots.
89 Decibels? Easy Peasy ! https://youtu.be/aSKR55RDVpk
tyah
Posts: 17
Joined: January 6th, 2021, 8:06 pm

Post by tyah »

mightyfelix wrote: February 5th, 2021, 9:14 pm Thanks for your feedback! You're right that there is a lot of information up front to absorb before you can really start recording. We're always open to suggestions for how that can be simplified, and we try to break it into bite-sized pieces to make it easier. But I think that ultimately, there's a lot to read just because there is a lot to learn, and people come in with very different levels of experience. Some people know all about voice recording, but don't know how our work flow operates or what our values and goals are. Some people know a lot about LibriVox because they've listened to our recordings, but they have never recorded anything themselves. So we make all of the information available, knowing that some people will depend on it more than others. We also have the Help forum so that anyone can ask their question there if they can't find the information they're looking for.

Do you have any examples of information that was unnecessarily complicated or redundant? The wiki can always be improved!
hi Devorah thank you for your reply!


i just think that these information are fragmented.
and some pages format makes the instructuons less clear.

for example
in the launch a new project pad there is a post for every type of recording. I as a reader volunteer might want to browse all the options. It will be more work to jump between these posts. One solution might be to group the posts and format the page into sections for every type of recording.

Speaking of format. In the launch new project forum - want to start a collaborative book? post.

The page alternates between a linked text and a full URL. this creates unnessesary clutter in the page.

Also in the same page at the end it say:

"When you start a thread here, please give it a title such as "GROUP: <title> by <author>". If you need a dedicated prooflistener, put a ~ at the very beginning. e.g. "~GROUP: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy".

The paragraph does not clearly direct but assumes the users know what or where to post.

I would say something like: Then create a new post in this forum, and give it a title in this format "GROUP: <title> by <author>". If you need a dedicated prooflistener, put a ~ at the very beginning. e.g. "~GROUP: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy"

thanks again!
tyah
Posts: 17
Joined: January 6th, 2021, 8:06 pm

Post by tyah »

philchenevert wrote: February 5th, 2021, 9:54 pm Yes, we are aware of how overwhelming this can be and have tried really hard to ease people into what they need to know. I am a senior person myself and know the frustration involved in learning new stuff. I have made a bunch of videos because I am a visual learner that hopefully help. https://wiki.librivox.org/index.php/Instructional_Videos

But as Devorah said, if you have specific points that seem overly complicated just point us to them. In the meantime, thank you for sharing your observations with us; we really do want to help and can't do it without feedback like this. :thumbs:
hi phil! thanks a lot. i will update this thread if i find bits here and there that might need some improvment.

thanks again!
Post Reply