How long does it take to make a video Q&A?

An illustration of a person next to video players holding a play button.

In this article, I want to share with you how long it takes, what the process is and what tools I use to create new Service Design Questions and Answers.

A bit of context

In the last weeks, I've published all my new answers to common Service Design Questions in video and text here on the Academy website, on Linkedin, on Youtube and linked in my weekly newsletter.

What are these Q&A videos?

If you're new here, first welcome, it's a pleasure to see meet such a lovely human. Second, you'll find below a an example of the types of questions I try to answer in video format:

And here you can see how I mix text and video together:

  1. Where can I find a Service Design mentor or coach?

  2. Can I make a Service Design Portfolio with Notion?

  3. How can I make a Service Blueprint less overwhelming?

  4. What are some best practices for collaborating with a service designer on a project?

So far, I've already published over 250 such answers. And a good third is made of videos that previously came for short loom recording or are clips from my Service Design Webinars.

What's the process?

Here's an overview of what I do in order to publish a new video Q&A:

  1. Shoot the video directly with Descript, my webcam and lights.

  2. Remove all the parts where I messed up and fix the transcription in Descript.

  3. Make the visual more interesting with titles, b-roll, etc.

  4. Upload to Youtube

  5. Create a thumbnail with Canva.

  6. Upload the Canva to the Youtube video.

  7. Download the subtitles of the video.

  8. Upload the video to Linkedin with the subtitles and the thumbnail.

  9. Add the video to Podia with a copy of the text from the transcript.

  10. Improve the text to work as a purely written text (using Grammarly)

  11. Add images and links in the text.

  12. Copy the link of the Q&A and add it to the draft of my weekly newsletter.

  13. And if it makes sense, I make a Youtube Shorts version of the video.

What are the tools used?

  • Descript for recording, video editing and transcription

  • Canva for the video thumbnail

  • Notion for keeping a draft of my newsletter

  • Podia for publishing the Swiss Innovation Academy website.

  • Youtube, and Linkedin as platforms where I publish the content.

How long does it take?

For now, most of the time, it takes me 50 to 60 minutes from start to finish, which is a lot of time. I hope that, with time, I can get that down to 30 minutes.

When I was only doing these answers in text, it took me 15 to 20 minutes.


Written on Thursday 22nd of June 2023 by Daniele Catalanotto