In-app guidance is a dynamic way to help users navigate a product by offering timely and contextual information within the app itself. It plays a crucial role in improving user onboarding, driving feature adoption, and enhancing overall product satisfaction.
This blog will provide actionable best practices for crafting and implementing effective in-app guidance that resonates with your users.
What Is In-App Guidance?
In-app guidance is a feature within a digital product that provides real-time support and instructions to users while they interact with the software.
By delivering timely, contextual assistance, it simplifies user journeys, accelerates onboarding, boosts feature adoption, reduces support needs, and enhances overall user satisfaction.
Various Forms of In-App Guidance
There are several forms of in-app guidance, each tailored to specific user needs:
- Tooltips: Short, contextual messages displayed when users hover over or interact with elements.
- Walkthroughs: Step-by-step guidance designed to lead users through complex processes or features.
- Checklists: Interactive lists that help users track progress during onboarding or multi-step workflows.
- Hotspots: Visual cues, such as pulsating dots, that highlight specific features or areas for user exploration.
Contextual Help
In-app guidance integrates seamlessly into the user’s journey, offering insights precisely when they are needed. This approach helps users overcome challenges in real-time, reduces frustration, and builds confidence in navigating the product.
Best Practices for In-App Guidance
Target the Right Users
Providing in-app guidance to everyone in the same way can dilute its effectiveness. To maximize its impact, it’s crucial to tailor guidance to the needs of specific user groups.
Segmentation
Segmenting your users based on criteria such as experience level, role, or behavior is a fundamental step. For example, new users may need walkthroughs to get started, while experienced users might prefer tooltips highlighting advanced features. Segmenting ensures the guidance remains relevant and avoids overwhelming users with unnecessary information.
Triggering
In-app guidance should appear at the right moment, triggered by user actions or milestones. For instance, a tooltip could appear when a user hovers over a new feature or reaches a specific stage in a workflow. Timing is everything—guidance presented too soon or too late can be confusing or irrelevant.
Keep It Concise and Clear
Overloading users with information can hinder, rather than help, their journey. Clear and concise messaging is essential for effective in-app guidance.
Avoid Information Overload
Each piece of guidance should focus on a single concept or action. Avoid cramming too much information into one tooltip or walkthrough step. This keeps users engaged and ensures they can easily digest the information.
Use Visuals
Visual aids like screenshots, videos, or GIFs can dramatically improve comprehension. For example, a brief video walkthrough can be more effective than a lengthy text explanation. Ensure that visuals are clean and directly relevant to the guidance provided.
Provide Value and Context
Users are more likely to engage with in-app guidance if it feels meaningful and tied to their goals.
Explain the "Why"
Always explain why a task or feature is important. For example, instead of simply showing users how to customize a dashboard, explain how this customization will help them track their key metrics more effectively.
Relate to User Goals
Connect the guidance to the broader objectives of your users. For example, if a user is navigating a reporting feature, emphasize how it can help them make better business decisions. This contextual framing keeps users motivated to follow through.
Use the Right Format
Choosing the correct format for your in-app guidance can significantly affect its success. Different formats are suited to different situations.
Tooltips
Best for offering quick, context-specific tips. For example, a tooltip can explain what happens when users click a specific button or toggle a setting.
Walkthroughs
Ideal for guiding users through complex workflows or multi-step tasks. Walkthroughs provide a structured learning experience, helping users achieve their goals one step at a time.
Checklists
Great for onboarding or multi-task workflows, checklists help users track their progress and ensure they don’t miss any critical steps. A well-designed checklist can also create a sense of accomplishment as users complete tasks.
Hotspots
Effective for drawing attention to new or underutilized features. For instance, a hotspot on a new feature button can entice users to explore it without disrupting their current workflow.
Test and Iterate
No in-app guidance strategy is perfect from the outset. Testing and iteration are crucial to refining your approach.
A/B Testing
Experiment with different versions of your guidance to determine which approach resonates most with users. For example, compare the performance of a tooltip versus a walkthrough for introducing a feature.
User Feedback
Actively solicit feedback from users about the guidance they receive. Are they finding it helpful? Is anything confusing or unnecessary? Use this feedback to make continuous improvements.
Examples of Effective In-App Guidance
Slack
Slack excels at using in-app guidance to help users maximize their workspace experience. During onboarding, Slack employs interactive walkthroughs and tooltips to introduce users to features like channels, integrations, and messaging. This approach ensures users can start collaborating effectively without feeling overwhelmed.
But Slack doesn’t just show you everything during onboarding and forget about you. When it thinks you might need help being more efficient on the platform, it helps you out even as a more experienced user.
For example, when you’re scrolling up in your conversations, a tip appears on your screen with a shortcut to search by keyword in that channel.
Canva
Canva uses checklists during onboarding to guide users through the process of creating their first design. These checklists include tasks like selecting a template, adding text, and downloading a design. By providing step-by-step guidance, Canva makes it easy for users to familiarize themselves with the platform while accomplishing their goals.
And when they come out with new features, they give you the option to learn the details or discard the tutorial.
Notion
Notion incorporates learn-by-doing onboarding. They have a Getting Started page, where you can experiment with different elements to see them in action. You can experiment with this page as much as you want, so you can take your time learning or instead choose to jump straight into business.
Notion is also good at reminding you about advanced usage actions later on. For example, when you hover over a menu item, you might see a keyboard shortcut of how to accomplish that same action faster.
Notion tooltip showing how you can reach the search bar without having to drag your mouse and click on the search option
Key Takeaways
- Tailor guidance formats (tooltips, checklists, or walkthroughs) to match user needs and product complexity.
- Focus on helping users achieve immediate goals to build confidence and loyalty.
- Ensure the guidance feels like an integral part of the product, not an interruption.
- Don’t just limit guidance to onboarding. Instead, discreetly remind them of relevant shortcuts and hacks when they’re doing the relevant action.
Conclusion
In-app guidance is a powerful tool for enhancing user onboarding, boosting feature adoption, and creating a more intuitive product experience. By understanding its forms—such as tooltips, walkthroughs, checklists, and hotspots—you can choose the right approach to guide users effectively.
To implement successful in-app guidance:
- Target the right users by segmenting and tailoring guidance based on behaviors and needs.
- Keep messages concise and clear to ensure users can quickly absorb and act on the information.
- Provide value and context by explaining why actions matter and connecting them to user goals.
- Select the appropriate formats for specific situations, such as tooltips for quick tips or walkthroughs for complex workflows.
- Test and iterate continuously to refine your strategy and ensure it meets user expectations.
By adopting these best practices, you can create an in-app experience that not only guides users but also empowers them to achieve their goals, building loyalty and satisfaction in the process.
.svg)
.png)
.svg)
