While Screenflow is more useful when producing complex video tutorials, setting up projects within it would be a barrier to creating short, informal videos. The Screenflow app handles recording, editing, and video production for more advanced use. This differs from more complex apps such as Screenflow. The Quickcast app succeeds by providing a limited set of functions that all aim to help the user succeed in their goals. The result of these interactions is a light, well designed app that makes it easy for users to create and share screencasts. This sort of detail indicates the company values good design. A nice touch is that logo animates through 3 steps (Make / Publish / Share), illustrating the way the app works. The rest of the page provides just enough information to help a visitor decide whether they need it. A clear call to action makes downloading easy. A well-designed website helps support the app by communicating what the application does and how it works. Here’s an example.Ī user experience is not just limited to the app itself. The app provides a notification containing a short link. Having made and published a video, the final step is sharing. The process feels faster, with notification that the upload has completed appears immediately. On a fast connection, the video will have finished uploading before the user submits the completed form.
The form contains a small number of fields, encouraging the user to add just enough information and get their video online.Ī nice touch is that the app begins uploading the video before showing this dialogue. Placing the form after the recording finishes means that the primary function of the app (making recordings) is not slowed by unneeded steps. The next screen is a form containing fields for description and other details. Once viewed, the user can then choose to throw away the recording, make another one, or save it. Quickcast provides a Preview function immediately after recording has finished. This solves the problem of the screencaster knowing how long to keep going for.Īfter finishing a recording, the first thing a user will wonder is how well it went. A clear “Record Quickcast” button begins the recording.Ī countdown timer - positioned on the Menu bar - shows how many minutes and seconds remain. Default options are pre-selected, minimising the effort the user needs make. It has options to cover the majority of use cases, without feeling complex. Selecting “Record” shows options for recording size, sound input and camera. Secondary functionality is still easy to reach. This makes beginning recording easy, allowing the user to record with little effort. When selected, the primary function, “Record”, shows first. Once installed, the app icon lives on the menu bar, making it easy to find. I will stepping through the application and see how Quickcast has catered for each of these goals. reviewing their screencast after recording.
seeing how long they have have left while recording.the ability to begin recording as soon as they want to.Other goals the users might have include: In this way it becomes a design decision that aligns itself with this main goal.
Quickcast for windows software#
While most screencast software imposes no such limit, the 3 minute limit in this case seems to be a deliberate decision that pushes the user to make the most of the limited time. Quickcast helps users achieve this by limiting the length of screencasts to 3 minutes.
Quickcast for windows free#
A side project hacked together by Pete Nelson, Neil Kinnish & Dom Murphy, Quickcast is a simple free service that does one thing well. As a break from the usual technical writing, I thought I’d take a moment to discuss the design of a product I’ve started using recently, and why I think the design works.Ī product I have been trying, and liking, recently is Quickcast.