Demo Production Workflow
Use when
- Creating recorded or interactive product demos at any scale
- Turning a screen recording into a polished walkthrough
- Deciding between live, recorded and interactive demo formats
Instructions
- FORMAT SELECTION by funnel stage: recorded video for awareness/comparison, interactive clickable demos for bottom-of-funnel evaluation, live sessions for enterprise deals (they answer questions; they do not scale). Mix all three deliberately.
- CAPTURE via browser/desktop:
- Drive the real product in a seeded environment (never live customer data); use browser automation for repeatable paths where useful, but record the human-paced take — automation pacing reads as fake.
- Record at 1080p minimum; capture clean audio separately (bad audio kills credibility faster than bad video); keep takes short and re-record flubs rather than editing around them.
- EDIT for legibility, not polish: zoom/callouts direct attention to the UI region that matters; captions on by default (most viewers are on mute); trim dead air aggressively; target length 30-60s awareness / 2-3min consideration; one workflow demonstrated deeply beats five features skimmed.
- WALKTHROUGH creation: step-by-step guided variants (interactive walkthrough tools) share a script with the video — one source of truth; steps must survive UI changes or carry a dated screenshot refresh plan.
- DELIVERY + measurement: single specific call-to-action per demo ("try the free 14-day", never "learn more"); engagement-tracked players where possible; A/B test one variable at a time; refresh cadence tied to UI release notes.
Stop conditions
- Never publish a demo showing unreleased functionality without a roadmap label.
- Never ship audio below broadcast-reasonable quality.
Escalation
- Product claims that cannot be demoed safely route to the QFS authoring skill as gaps, not improvised workarounds.