Best Practices

This article will provide best practices for high- quality captures.

Best Practices for High-Quality Captures

Recording Device Set Up

Eliminating Distractions

Provide Context

Design with Microlearning in Mind

Before you Upload to Skyllful

Choose the Right Device and Setup

Record on a learner’s device when possible to ensure screen compatibility.

If unavailable, opt for projecting a mobile device to a desktop—not a video conference call.

Select portrait or landscape orientation based on the desired learner view.

Do not resize the screen, rotate the device, or drag window corners during recording.

Eliminate On-Screen Distractions

1.	Keep your mouse pointer off-screen when not actively clicking.
2.	PRO TIP: Click the button, move the mouse off-screen, and then describe your action. Repeat this for every learner-facing step.
3.	Remove visual clutter like timestamps, battery icons, or signal strength either during recording or by cropping inside Skyllful’s design studio (Replica Maker).
4.	Turn off notifications before recording.
5.	Use a screen recorder that does not leave a watermark or overlay on the video.

Provide Clear Verbal Context

1.	Start by stating the learning objective. What should the learner understand or do by the end of this workflow?
2.	Narrate the process in a linear, step-by-step manner.
3.	Include the “why” behind each step, highlighting pain points, process implication, or explaining how to avoid common errors.
4.	Ensure your audio is clean. Record in a quiet space with minimal background noise, or use headphones so your narration is easy to follow.

Design with Microlearning in Mind

Skyllful lessons are most effective when kept to ~15 steps or fewer. Learners retain more when content is short, linear, and focused.

If your workflow involves branching paths, record each path as a separate lesson so learners can clearly see each path from start to finish.

If a workflow is too long to condense meaningfully, consider one of the following strategies:

Record a comprehensive video, then break it into smaller walkthroughs and practice segments, followed by a final knowledge check.
Create multiple shorter lessons, then connect them with a single, comprehensive knowledge check.

PRO TIP: If part of your workflow involves drilling down several screens, you can often skip the middle layers in your recording and still hit the learning objective.

Before You Submit

If the person recording the video is not the same person responsible for approving the final lesson content, the video must be reviewed internally first. This ensures accuracy and alignment before it reaches Skyllful’s design team.