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Checkpoints
A checkpoint is a point in the video where it stops and the narrator asks your client a question. Your client answers out loud, the narrator replies, and the video carries on. Between checkpoints your client can still stop the video and ask something by holding the talk button.
What happens at a checkpoint
The narrator's reply is two sentences at most. It answers only from your plan document and the video's voice-over. When the answer isn't there, it says "I don't have that one. I'll make a note so we get you an answer." and logs the question for you. It never guesses at dates, prices, scope, or who does what.
If the narrator doesn't resume the video, it waits for your client to say more. Your client can also tap to carry on.
The four kinds
Each checkpoint has a kind. The kind sets the default question, and tells you what kind of answer to expect.
| Kind | Default question | What happens there |
|---|---|---|
| Comprehension | "Did that part make sense?" | If your client says no or sounds unsure, the narrator offers to rewind to the scene. |
| Open | "Any questions about that part?" | The narrator answers from the plan, or logs what it can't answer. |
| Decision | "There are two options there. Which fits you better?" | Your client's choice is in the transcript, in their own words. |
| Sign-off | "Are you happy with this as it is?" | The narrator records whether your client approved or asked for changes, with their reasons. |
These are the questions of a Custom walkthrough. Write your own question on any checkpoint, or leave it blank to use the default.
The narrator follows the same rules at every checkpoint. It isn't told the kind or the question, only that a checkpoint started the conversation and where the video is. So write questions that make sense with any of its replies: answering from the plan, offering a rewind, or noting a question for you. Sign-off is the exception. On a walkthrough with a Sign-off checkpoint, the narrator also knows to record the client's verdict.
How a purpose changes the wording
A walkthrough with a purpose asks that purpose's wording when a question is left blank. Kinds not listed here ask the Custom default above.
| Purpose | Comprehension | Open | Sign-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spec review | "Does this part match what you had in mind?" | "Any questions on this part of the spec?" | "Is this spec ready to build?" |
| Build sign-off | "Does this work the way you expected?" | "Anything here you'd want changed before it ships?" | "Are you happy for this to go to production?" |
| Delivery feedback | "Does this part work the way you need it to?" | "Anything about this part you'd change?" | Custom default |
A purpose also suggests the closing question. When you open a draft that has no saved checkpoints, the editor places it at the end of the video for you, unsaved:
- Spec review closes with a Sign-off checkpoint: "Is this spec ready to build?"
- Build sign-off closes with a Sign-off checkpoint: "Are you happy for this to go to production?"
- Delivery feedback closes with an Open checkpoint: "Anything you'd change, now you've seen it?"
- Custom starts with no checkpoints.
The narrator is also told what your client is deciding. For a Spec review, for example, it knows the client is deciding whether the spec is ready to build.
The rules
- A walkthrough needs at least one checkpoint, and can have at most 20. Each question is rendered in the narrator's voice when you publish, so the limit keeps that rendering in check.
- The last checkpoint must be within 10 seconds of the end of the video. It's the closing checkpoint, and the editor draws its marker dashed.
- Sign-off can only go on the closing checkpoint. The kind picker offers Sign-off only there. Publishing refuses a Sign-off checkpoint anywhere else.
- A question can be up to 500 characters. Keep it short. Your client hears it once and answers out loud.
Sign-off
A Sign-off checkpoint asks your client to approve the work or ask for changes. The narrator records the answer, with the reasons your client gave.
- If the answer is unclear, the narrator asks once more. If it's still unclear, it records nothing.
- It never pushes for approval.
- If your client changes their mind later in the session, their last answer counts.
The verdict shows at the top of the session page, in the digest email's subject, and on your client's recap.
Use the editor
Open the Checkpoints tab on a draft.
- The scene strip shows each scene as a block as wide as its running time. Click the strip to add a checkpoint there. Checkpoints snap to whole seconds.
- Drag a marker to move it. With a marker selected, the arrow keys move it by one second, and Shift with an arrow moves it by ten.
- Add checkpoint at playhead adds one at the current point in the video above the strip.
- Select a checkpoint to edit it in the side panel. Set its time as
m:ss, pick its kind, and write its question. - Remove checkpoint takes it off the strip.
- Press Save checkpoint to save. It saves every change on the strip, not only the selected checkpoint.
A new checkpoint starts as Comprehension. While you play the video, the panel beside it shows the current scene's voice-over, so you can place a question right after the part it asks about.
You can't publish with unsaved checkpoint changes, and the page warns you if you try to leave with any.
Once a walkthrough is published, its checkpoints can't change. To change them, archive it and import the video again.