Performance Systems International

Multimedia Enriches User Experience

PSI is a boutique consulting firm specializing in creating and implementing Business Performance Management (BPM) Programs. They offer consulting and training services to organizations around the world.

PSI wants to stand out from its peers. A challenge many smaller consultancies face is brand recognition -- establishing credibility and authority in their area of expertise to prospective customers. Filling up a website with buzzwords does little to differentiate one firm from another. But enriching the content on their website can help to distinguish PSI, and establish a more immediate rapport with prospects.

PSI considers the web to be a key channel for their business. From marketing to consulting and training, the company wants to leverage web technologies and techniques to build its business and create new opportunity.

As a starting point, they wanted to move off of the static website platform to something that is more interesting, dynamic and accessible. Web-based multimedia is an effective tool to engage with their clients throughout a consultative engagement. Given that all of their clients have broadband access, streaming rich content makes sense as a medium.

Design Considerations

The scope of the initial project involved creating five brief, 2-minute introductory videos of each of the three phases of the Business Performance Management (BPM) lifecycle, as well as introductory and closing comments.

The videos were overlayed with Flash animation, as well as closed-captioning of much of the dialog. One of the production considerations was to avoid the use of the typical talking-head opposite a presentation deck. Using Flash, we were able to create nice, seamless presentation environment with appropriate visual cues to enhance the message.

The videos are accessed through a Flash jukebox player. The player interface depicts the phases of the BPM cycle, with the user clicking on the phase in which they are interested. Optimization of the video stream ensures response is very quick, as the videos commence almost immediately upon selection.

Here is the Performance Systems International landing page with the new video jukebox installed:

The next phase of the multimedia project was to develop on-line training materials. The training materials are available on a subscription basis, and include a training video plus an accompanying worksheet.

Here is a screen shot of the Flash jukebox that delivers the training:

As with the intro videos, this jukebox provides a single interface to all the materials in the current phase. As the library of materials grows, the jukebox will be accomodated to deliver the content in an intuitive manner.