Article Idea:
Podcasting - best practices
suggested by Alok Jain on 2006/06/26
Podcasting is the new channel of information sharing, I have been listening to many and found that no real standards and good user experience/IA practices have evolved yet. Here are some I think are important, more to be added
1. Pod cast title – first thing first, I have seen many podcasts labeled as “show name , episode # 46” this does not communicate anything to users. It should be clear just like page titles on web pages. In addition the length of podcast label needs to take the portable device’s screen limitations into account.
2. Intro Music – So the user has downloaded an episode/subscribed to a podcast, most podcasts have intro music. Let the intro music be very short , max 5 seconds. Also the music should not be very loud and should align with the theme of episode or podcast as a whole. Business Week cover story doe s fairely good job of this.
3. Provide an overview – Kinda like Inverted pyramid writing style, give an overview of the episode upfront giving user clear picture of what’s coming and allowing for informed decision to be made on going further.
4. Volume Inconsistency – BIG pain area, each speaker seems to have different volume. While podcast is generated by amateurs as well, but finally it is going to other users, it’s important that user does not have to keep changing volume levels, especially as it requires that player has to be taken out of the pocket each time.
5. You are here – Many podcasts have several sections within them, HBR Idea cast indicates these sections on the timeline, it’s a good technique. This way user can navigate across the timeline in an informed fashion instead of trial and error
6. Optimize for player – Optimize for download, consider going mono instead of stereo. David Pogue of NY times has recently done that, no major loss of value but download is significantly better now.
7. Length – While this will vary depending n subject/interest etc.. I have found 30 minutes to max 45 minutes be kind of optimal length of podcast.
As podcasting becomes more important, more such standards need to evolve … lets see
- Alok Jain
http://www.iPrincipia.com
Want to see this idea turned into a story?
2 people said yes. | 0 people said no.
Gaetano Palermo
2 Reputation points
Posted 2006/06/27 @ 07:35AM with
Excellent initiative. Indeed, there is a lot of work to do. I would even suggest to start something about Best Practices for RSS feeds.
Masood Nasser
70 Reputation points
Posted 2006/07/13 @ 07:58AM with
Interesting, Alok. Methinks that the length could vary on the subject of the podcast, like a serious topic, where a knoweldge seeker is seeking information on specific issues, or casual Pod-cast surfing, like our very own Jammy’s “Funny” podcasts, where we would prefer shorter podacasts.
Alok Jain
92 Reputation points
Posted 2006/07/13 @ 21:00PM with
Your are right Masood, my observation is based on my experience so far. I listen to a variety of subjects from news, to innovation, tips and tricks and found my attention span as I have mentioned. This tumeframe actually represents a particular subject, some podcasts contain several subjects within them, thise could be longer.