At some point in their educations, students must learn copious amounts of information. To do this, they use a variety of well-known strategies such as study groups, note-taking services, and videotapes of lectures. In fall 2004, a group of first-year dental students at the University of Michigan (U-M) School of Dentistry asked to have all dental school lectures videotaped and recordings made available on a Web site. The students' doubted their ability to accurately summarize in their notes the quantity of information presented in lectures. The students thought that reviewing a video recording of each lecture would help them better retain the biomedical information presented. In response to the students' request, the Dental Informatics group applied formative evaluation strategies to determine the ultimate solution. The group determined that podcasting audio recordings of lectures provided a better technology solution for the students' needs than the originally requested video recordings. The unanticipated results of this project strongly reinforced two lessons that can be applied to most learning technology projects: (1) the importance of actively involving the client; and (2) the importance of using proven instructional design and formative evaluation techniques.(Contains 2 figures, 1 table, and 11 endnotes.)