Loops Mean Never Having to Say You’re Sorry
Four Benefits of Looping Videos Steps
“How do you stop this thing?!” my daughter yelled from the kitchen table with the kind of intense urgency that little kids reserve for, well, everything. Glancing over at her, I saw that she was trying to follow a drawing video on YouTube and couldn't keep up with the artist.
Whether you're learning to draw or attempting to clean your pool filter, following hands-on video tutorials invariably looks like this: play, pause, rewind, play, yell at the screen in frustration, repeat.
Here's the thing: any time you're learning to do, make, or build something, you need looping videos. By this, we do not mean one long video that loops in its entirety (what good does that do?) but a tutorial in which every step loops as many times as you need until you're ready to move forward.
This is the most essential and obvious component for any action- or skill-based lesson that's intended to be followed along.
There are innumerable benefits to looping videos, but the top four that come to mind are:
Speed. If you're not constantly interrupting your flow by pausing and restarting a step, you're shortening the overall length of time it takes you to complete the task.
Accuracy. Watching something once makes it feel doable. Watching it over and over helps you catch the details and nuances. And if steps are broken down into individual components, you're less likely to miss a step by accident.
Comfort. In-person learning can be highly effective, but asking the teacher, “I'm sorry, but can I see that over and over again until I get the hang of it” is not something people are comfortable doing. Clear loops mean learning at your own pace, with as many repetitions as you need.
Peace of mind. If a loop is clear and you're directing all your attention to the task at hand rather than the screen in front of you, you're far less likely to want to chuck your device into the nearest body of water. Oddly enough, loops actually have a calming effect.
For hands-on learning, loops are a no-brainer. They benefit the very young, the very old, and everyone in between. The issue is, you can’t loop successfully using platforms like YouTube and Vimeo. In fact, there are a number of reasons why and how loops don’t work on conventional media players. We believe they have to be baked into the fabric of an interface’s architecture from the beginning.
Looping videos are one of the essential components of what makes Larabee’s delivery so effective. Want to see it in action? Click here.
