When we place content online, either through digitization or the creation of new digital works, we have no idea how people will use it. Yes, we know how we want them to use it, but we don't always know how people really use it. Do they consume the content in the order we expect?
Do they listen, watch or read the entire piece?
Do they follow the links or resources which we provide?
This summer, I recorded all of the video lectures which will be used in my class this fall. After the lectures were created, I had to then watch them all in order to check their quality. And I did what I frequently do when I listen to podcasts, I changed the speed to 1.5 or 2x normal. Yes, even I am understandable if you listen to me at twice my normal speaking speed!
Everyone who creates content makes an assumption about its use. While my assumption in recording the lectures was that students would watch them at their normal speed, I proved to myself that my assumption didn't need to be true.
I actually don't like hour long podcasts, but what it I realized that I'm going to listen to it in half the time? I have yet to ingrain my 1.5 reality into how I select what to listen to. If I did, I'd recognize that those long podcasts really aren't that long and I would begin to consume a broader range of content.
What are your assumptions as you create digital content? As a consumer of content, what are you doing which might alter your assumptions? Could altering your assumptions expand your horizons?
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