Start with the goal, then the video
“We want to make an informative interactive video about our company.”
That’s great! But what will the video contribute to? Who is the target audience? What results do you want to achieve? If questions like these aren’t clearly defined in advance, the creative process can easily overlook your most important goals.
Keep it clear
It’s tempting to include everything, but too many options can overwhelm your audience. Let viewers focus on what really matters by keeping the menu simple and clear. Fewer, well-chosen paths—ideally no more than six—lead to a better, more engaging experience.
Encourage viewers to explore
While viewers are free to choose what they watch, sometimes it’s essential that they view all the content—like in an e-learning module or a step-by-step guide. You can encourage this with a few simple tactics:
- Add checkmarks to menu buttons once they’ve been viewed.
- Show progress with a progress bar.
- Everyone likes a reward! Let viewers earn points for watching certain sections or answering questions correctly. Once they collect enough points, they can unlock a surprise segment of the video.
Keep it short
People don’t watch videos the way they used to—they expect control, speed, and relevance. Interactive video gives them just that, but only if you design it with efficiency in mind. Here’s how:
- Add a “skip intro” button so viewers can jump straight to the menu.
- Ensure the default navigation always allows them to return to the menu.
- Keep individual topic videos short. While this depends on the subject, aim for under one minute whenever possible.
Make it digitally accessible
Video content should be accessible to everyone, including people with visual or hearing impairments. In addition to subtitles, audio descriptions, and transcripts—common in linear video—interactive videos must also feature clearly understandable buttons. We ensure this by adding labels that can be read aloud by screen readers. It’s also important to use clear, descriptive labels: for example, “Home” is less specific than “Go to main menu.”
