There is a bit of confusion over the difference between “demonstrations” and “simulations” in the industry. My personal opinion is that they are very different animals, and should be used for entirely different things.

Typically, a demonstration is a passive multimedia experience. For instance, it could be a short video clip. Demos are useful for illustrating short, simple tasks. You can think of them as “screen shots on steroids.” For these reasons, they are especially well-suited for online documentation, perhaps embedded in a topic alongside their text-based instruction counterparts.

Simulations, on the other hand, are active multimedia experiences, and are largely used for training purposes. Where a demo would say, “click here,” then show what happens when a user clicks there, a simulation would say, “click here,” then wait for the user to click there before proceeding. The user receives feedback as he/she maneuvers through the sim (hint captions, failure captions, etc.).

For these reasons, simulations are best used in e-learning and training modules.

http://www.myfilehut.com/userfiles/114650/monkeyDemo.swf', ‘popupWin’, ‘toolbar=0, width=800, height=600′)” rel=”nofollow”>Here is a typical demonstration(224 KB, pops in a new window). Only a few seconds long, you could see how this could “replace” (or at least reinforce) a complex text-based procedure. The user does nothing but sit and watch.

http://www.myfilehut.com/userfiles/114650/monkeySimulation.swf', ‘popupWin’, ‘toolbar=0, width=800, height=600′)” rel=”nofollow”>Here is a typical simulation(345 KB, pops in a new window). The user is prompted to take an action, and must accomplish that action before the simulation continues.

I apologize for the crudeness of these examples… I threw them together quickly.

Can you clarify what you mean by simulation. Is this an animation of someone performing a task, or is it more than that.

An example would be great.