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Client:
Symantec
Challenge:
Symantec needed to make
information about their new pcTELECOMMUTE
product available in an easy to access, easy
to update format. This information would be
used to educate their sales-force as well as
pcTELECOMMUTE's target market about the
product's many features. These groups needed
to be able to access both overview and
detailed information quickly and easily
using an interface that would be engaging
and intuitive for all — regardless of
computer comfort level. |
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The
technical challenge we faced was that this tour of
Symantec's new software would be delivered in a
browser environment on both CD-ROM and from their
website's Unix server. It would need to run in 4.x
versions of both Netscape and Internet Explorer, and
it would need to perform flawlessly on virtually any
platform using Windows 95, Win98 and Windows NT 4.0
operating environments.
The
Product Tour would also have to be equally effective
with or without audio, as the web version would not
use audio, but the CD-ROM version would use audio
extensively.
Solution:
Our solution was to work with Symantec
to create a straightforward, Internet-based Product
Tour about the pcTELECOMMUTE software. It would be
accessible through Symantec's homepage for easy
access with a minimal connection speed, (meaning
basic use of media and easy navigation) and would
also be made available on CD-ROM.
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To meet users' need to get to information
quickly and easily, we use a graphic of
pcTELECOMMUTE's toolbar as the main menu.
When the user selects a function from the
toolbar, an overview of that function is
presented, followed by a submenu, which
leads them to greater detail. We also
provide the user with an expanding Windows
Explorer-like menu on the left of the
screen. Using either of these menus, the
user has complete freedom to get to features
and benefits overviews of any of the 10
modules within the Product Tour with one
click, and to detailed information on how to
use each function with two clicks.
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It
was important that the CD-ROM version be
self-installing to accommodate novice computer
users. We wrote an install program that booted the
CD-ROM, checked to see which version of which
browser was set as the default browser on the user's
machine, and then automatically installed the
correct version of the default browser. The install
also checked for and installed the correct version
of RealPlayer if it was not already on the user's
machine so that the audio files would play. After
properly configuring the user's machine, the install
program launched the Product Tour.
Results:
Allen created an Internet-based
Product Tour that can be accessed quickly and easily
by anyone around the world, and which runs
beautifully in both browsers from the Internet,
CD-ROM, and hard-drive. This pcTELECOMMUTE Product
Tour lets users explore the features and benefits
available to them in this groundbreaking
telecommuting software. Since the Product Tour was
placed on Symantec's website, 75% of visitors to
their Telecommuting Resource Center page
(4000+/month), have gone through the pcTELECOMMUTE
Product Tour. Symantec considers this to be a
success, since educating the public is a very
important component of their marketing strategy.
They
plan to update the Product Tour when the next
version of pcTELECOMMUTE comes out, and to create
similar product tours for some of their other
complex software products. |
