I recently also discovered the value of recording the SMEs. I will definitely do it again.
I recently had 2 SMEs tag team for 3 hours showing me over 25+ tasks/maneuvers on a software they needed to test their trainees on. I used Camtasia in 10-minute spurts to gather this session. My brain was swimming by the end. I kept nodding as though I understood everything they were telling me. (Yeah right!)
Over the past two months I've milked that footage into a suite of brief "See it" and "Try it" modules. I've watched and re-watched the raw material to understand it and think through a succinct path. So many good comments they made along the way that I would have had no capacity to remember or write down fast enough.
Then, as an instructional designer, I was able to distill it into a clean product for the learner.
