Production and Product Development

Partnering for Product Development

Content development, one step of the production process, often includes collaboration and partnering with others at Cultivate Learning including project managers and the resource development production teams.

Connecting early and often with resource development (RD) teams helps to ensure:

  • The content production process goes smoothly, and timelines are accurate.
  • Content is expressed in varied ways, increasing accessibility.
  • Content is being written for the platform and/or format needed.
  • Quality assurance criteria is met for deliverables.

Inviting RD to project kick offs and other internal meetings is one way to ensure this collaboration. Below you will find other tips, various examples, and links to request forms that will be helpful for content development.

Teaming with the Project Manager

The project manager helps support the team to ensure the project deliverables are met. At times, content developers will also be the project manager. There is often flexibility within projects for how the teams will work together.

Role of the Project Manager

  • Form the project team in collaboration with team leads.
  • Maintain Asana workflow.
  • Collaborate about and communicate team roles and responsibilities.
  • Develop the project charter with the team.
  • Ensure the project follows the workflow production processes and collaborates with other resource development team members.
  • Develop the deliverable timeline and help prioritize and adapt timelines, when needed.
  • Develop and communicate file locations to all project team members.
  • Guide the project through our external partner processes.
  • Manage reporting.
  • plan, facilitate, and document internal, external, and partner feedback meetings.

Tools for Project Management

  • The workflow guide includes guidance for most production processes
  • Asana is our project management tool. This is how the project teams communicate, stay on task, and manage workflows. The use of Asana is determined by each Cultivate Learning unit. To inquire about an account, first check with your Unit lead or supervisor. For Asana user training, reach out to the Resource Development  Production Manager.

Teaming With the Integrated Learning Team (Instructional Design)

The role of the instructional designer (ID) is to design and develop the learning experience of a course or training module in an online or hybrid environment. The ID works in close collaboration with the content experts and media team to build courses and training modules.

Team Structure/Roles

One or more of these roles may be part of the project team and work closely in content production:

  • Instructional Design Manager
  • Instructional Designers
  • Quality Assurance specialist
  • Biliterate Instructional Designer
  • Adult Learning Specialist

Summary of Instructional Design Tasks

  • Reviewing and refining the course goals and Learning Objectives
  • Making sure that the learning activities and content match the learning objectives
  • Assessing how the learning objectives and activities support the course goals
  • Partnering with the content and media teams to actively engage learners
  • Evaluating and advising on the use of learning technologies
  • Creating learning interactive activities that use learning technologies (Articulate, h5p, etc.)
  • Structuring the flow of the learning content and activities
  • Providing feedback on the use of graphics and photograph
  • Advising on the use of accessible content and activities
  • Providing a consistent learning experience in the course design
  • Incorporating Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and its evidence-based practices
  • Incorporating all the course elements and functionality to different Learning Management Systems (LMS)

Quick tips

  • Shorten your titles, headings, subheadings when possible. Try to use descriptive titles when possible.
  • Content developers will be responsible for coordinating the development of the following course assets: content for the modules, videos, and graphics that are not part of the interactions. Additionally, the content developer team will coordinate editorial reviews.
  • The instructional design team will coordinate the production of the interactives. They will check the content for coherency, clarity, what to emphasize, what to put as interactive if the text gets too heavy, and how to engage the learner. Also, they will be responsible for handling the student Learning experience (interface design, content/learning flow in LMS, learning objectives check by Module), get some basic user testing,  populate the content in Canvas, check that all the assets are in the modules, and QA course.
  • Refer to the Bloom taxonomy when writing Course Objectives and Learning Objectives for each module or session.

Tools and Resources

  • Learning Design Toolkit – Here you can see many tools and examples that are helpful for online course creation and content development.

Teaming With the Graphic Design Team

The graphic design team strategically displays visual content within our products. This includes building layouts for print and digital publications, developing infographics that effectively convey information as well as creating custom illustrations/animations that reinforce understanding. The design team is also the go-to source for all things related to branding.

The design team creates and maintains the template library. For example, if you are building out a PowerPoint slide deck, the design team can help ensure you are using the right template, create a new template, or adapt a template as needed.

Team Structure/Roles

  • The Graphic Design Manager coordinates the various design-related work happening at Cultivate Learning. The manager should be included in the project kick-off and included in additional meetings if there are significant changes to the project over time. Connect early with the graphic design manager to:
    • Communicate about upcoming project needs.
    • Ensure the appropriate designer is on the project.
  • The Graphic/Multimedia Designer works closely with the project team to create any visual materials needed for a project.
    • Partner early with the designer by including them in the project kick-off.
    • The assigned designer is the project team’s primary contact for design needs within the project from conception through revisions to distribution.

Tips for Effective Partnering

  • Include the designer and manager in project kick-offs. Communicate often with the designer about project status and needs. (Include the manager if there are significant changes to work scope, timeline, etc. after kick-off.)
  • Project managers should assign Asana design tasks to the design manager until the project is fully kicked-off and a designer is assigned.
  • The project manager should ensure that the graphic designer and manager have access to all necessary files. Add links to files into the Asana project.
  • Use provided templates as intended. Templates have been created to support consistency, proper branding, and accessibility.
  • Accessibility is everyone’s work. Ensure that the content has met all accessibility requirements as mentioned in the Accessibility section of the Content Development and Style Guide prior to submitting for design.
  • Design does a Form and Function Review – not specifically an accessibility review – though often accessibility issues are discovered in this review process. The design team will fix items that fall within the design scope. This may include accessibility related to graphics, templates, and a few other things content writers may not have the software to edit.
  • Ensure all text has been copy edited before submitting for design.
  • The design team follows legal requirements on image copyright.

Tools and Resources

Request Forms

Multimedia Request Form – Please use this form for one-off graphic design requests that are not part of an existing Asana project. If part of an existing Asana project, add a task and assign it to the designer (or manager if unsure).

Teaming With the Media Liaison

The media liaison works closely with content developers, media producers, instructional design, and the digital asset specialist to determine what media is needed to demonstrate high quality practices, recruit programs for filming, and act as a subject matter expert when filming happens.

 Tips for Effective Partnering

  • Invite the Media Liaison (ML) to the project kickoff meeting. This will help the ML begin to begin to think about what media we already have that aligns with the project needs and what we may need.
  • Search Webdam before requesting new media and work with your media producer to adapt what we have whenever possible.
  • Acquiring new media can take up to three months. When requesting new media:
    • Use the Filming Request form.
    • Set up a time to meet with the media liaison (Bookings page)
    • Be specific, provide examples, and share as much information as needed.
  • Interviews can help to convey content in different formats. When developing interview questions team with the media liaison to ensure they know:
    • Why you are asking the questions you are?
    • What you hope to hear
    • How the interview will be used to meet the project outcomes and goals

Tools and Resources

Request Forms

Filming Request form – This form will help you connect with the media liaison about project filming needs.

Teaming With the Media Team

Media producers will film, photograph, and edit relevant media for a variety of projects and content topics. Most projects will have a media producer as part of the team who will support the team/project’s media production. See the Request Form section for media needs when the requests are not part of a project, or the project does not necessarily have a full team.

The media producers help to tell the story of our content. They can support the project outcomes and goals by helping to convey content in a visual and interactive way, ensuring different ways to access the content. Plan to partner early and often with the media team.

Partner with media for:

  • Storyboarding
  • Script writing tips and processes
  • Video production and editing
  • Using photos to tell the story.

Team Structure/Roles

  • Manager of Media Production manages the team of Media Producers and assigns relevant projects to Producers. If you do not have an assigned Producer yet to your project, feel free to contact the Manager of Media Production.
  • Media Producers support all media production processes. Consider them your creative partner in content and media co-development. There may be a Producer assigned from start to finish of a project or the work is divided among several Producers.

Tips for Effective Partnering

  • Plan to partner early and often with the media team.
  • Invite the project’s media producer to the project kick off meeting. This helps the team to partner and collaborate about how to share content in different ways.
  • Complete the Multimedia Tracking Sheet (Direct Download) while developing the product or materials.
    • To access video links, use the general account information found in the Webdam and Media Lab section.
    • Collaborate with the media producers when completing the Video Edits, Captioning, and Transcripts tab of the multimedia tracking sheet.
    • Work with the media producer to ensure title names meet naming conventions.
      • Final video titles need to be unique in Webdam. Be sure to search Webdam by the title you are considering before choosing it.
    • Read more about using the Multimedia Tracking Sheet in the Choosing and Using Visual Media for Our Products chapter.
  • Translation and Captions – When a project has a media producer assigned, the content developer will work with them to follow the translation and captioning processes for media within the project.
  • Types of media to use:
    • Most grants will require some specific criteria for the media being used in them. For instance, DCYF materials prefer to use media captured in WA State.
    • Prioritize drawing media from Webdam resources that can easily be translated and captioned internally. To strive for equity, collaborate with the media team, the digital asset manager, and biliterate content developers to seek out resources in either Spanish or Somali that can be translated and captioned to English.
  • Work with the media producer and project manager to determine necessary credits and attributions for video projects.
    • Use the attribution styles section as a guide and determine if project roles should be attributed (e.g., producer, reviewer, writer, editor).
  • Shared Media Use
    • Using Home Photography in Products Guideline (Coming Soon)
    • Using Shared Media Guideline (Coming Soon)
    • When to Use iStock Guideline (Coming Soon)
  • Refer to the Video Use Guidelines and the Choosing Visual Media for Our Products chapters.
  • Get Inspired: Examples – Here you can find many examples of how media has helped to convey content including different styles and types of products. Including:
  • Storytelling Toolkit: Useful tools to support partnering with the media team.
  • Remote recording Toolkit: Tips for recording video and audio remotely.

Considerations When Producing New Videos

The following guidelines apply to how we produce videos with the Cultivate Learning’s media team. These are all considerations as we develop content.

Captioning 

All videos should be captioned in English, and where funding is available, in additional languages. Content developers and media producers will coordinate to get videos captioned and applied according to Section 508 accessibility standards. Content developers and editors review applied captions to ensure correct spelling and names.

Considerations for Captioning in Spanish

Gender permeates not only pronoun forms but adjectives, objects and even nouns. It is particularly important to get the gender right when people are speaking, as in video transcriptions and subtitles. To insure this, we have the following suggestions:

  • When videos are to be translated, please have translators review the SRT/TextEdit texts together with the actual video, to make sure the speakers’ genders are correctly represented.
  • If the originals are text only, have the authors make sure to identify the gender of the speakers and the people referred to. Words like “child” and “teacher” do not convey gender and leave translators guessing, with little to work from.
  • When possible, include a disclaimer to explain why a project has used a specific gender form.

Credits

Work with the media producer and project manager to determine necessary credits and attributions for video projects. Use the attribution styles section as a guide and determine if project roles should be attributed (e.g., producer, reviewer, writer, editor).

Titles of person on produced video

If a PhD, use PhD at the front of their name instead of Dr. at the beginning (See academic degrees and academic titles sections).

When requesting video edits, provide the full name, title, and organization the person is affiliated with.

  • Susan Sandall, PhD, Cultivate Learning, University of Washington.
  • Gail Joseph, PhD, (content phrasing following the name depends on the project). The content developer should determine, or work with a person who will be featured to confirm their affiliation.

There will be some variability and change needed at times if a person does not quite fit into these structures.

Remote Recording

Refer to the Remote Recording Toolkit on the resource development portal for guidance.

Request Forms

License

Cultivate Learning Content Development and Style Guide Copyright © by Cultivate Learning. All Rights Reserved.