The goal of user onboarding is twofold. You want to show people how to navigate and use the application. You also want to make them fall in love with your product. If they like and value the product, they’re more likely to adopt it. Product tours are a great way to accomplish both goals.
Product walkthroughs improve your user onboarding experience by helping reveal the ‘Aha moment’ to your users. What is the ‘aha moment?’ It’s when a user finally recognizes the value your software offers. Does it save them time? Will it make their jobs easier? Does it eliminate a mundane or unnecessary task? The ‘aha moment’ should highlight how your product helps users with their daily tasks.
Think of it this way. A product tour needs to answer three questions:
- What does this application do?
- How does it work?
- Why should I use it?
If your product walkthrough doesn’t answer the last question of why, then you’ve failed to show the user their ‘aha moment.’ In this blog, we’re reviewing the top tips for building more effective product tours to ensure better onboarding and adoption.
Product Tour Best Practices
For more impactful walkthroughs, implement these best practices:
1. Break up your onboarding into smaller chunks
Your application probably does a lot of things. Don’t try to show users all of them at once. When you overwhelm users with too much information, it makes it harder for the ‘aha moment’ to stand out. Build a product tour for each of your primary functions or processes and build in an aha moment to each of them.
2. Focus on the basics
Users will have an easier time recognizing the value of your software if you stick with the basic functionality. You’ll have to fight the temptation to show off your most advanced features. You may think the advanced capabilities are where your software adds the most value, but that’s not true for your average user. If most users don’t need the advanced capabilities, then a product walkthrough focusing on sophisticated features will leave most users thinking the software doesn’t offer much for them.
3. Customize your walkthroughs for the audience
If you do need to showcase advanced features, considering using a walkthrough software that allows for segmentation, that way you could tailor each tour to a specific user base. People are more likely to engage with content that addresses their particular needs.
4. Write short and engaging copy
The interactive balloons in your product tour aren’t that big. Use your space wisely. Keep the writing crisp and engaging. If you’re too longwinded, people will be more likely to abandon the tour without completing it.
5. Design for mobile users
Make sure your walkthrough software supports mobile devices if your application has a mobile web or app version. You need to consider how pop up balloons will work on smaller screens. You might even consider building separate mobile versions of your product tours.
6. Make every step count
One of the critical goals of a product walkthrough should be to explain why users need to take a specific action. Don’t clutter your tour with unnecessary steps. Guide your users through a process in the most direct way possible.
7. Remove distractions
Sometimes users can get distracted and wander away from your product tour. They might start clicking to other screens, and soon they’re lost. When appropriate and if your walkthrough software allows it, consider using highlighting elements to remove distractions. Standard options include blinking around the item you want them to click or adding an overlay, so only the element you want them to focus on is visible.
Using Analytics for Better Product Walkthroughs
One of the biggest challenges is identifying what walkthroughs your users need in a product tour. If you create too many feature tours, your users won’t be able to complete them all. They might get overwhelmed and be unable to find the tour they need.
That’s where your analytics can help you identify when and where a product tour can help. Look through your product analytics to determine:
- What processes are used most by users
- What processes get abandoned before they’re completed
- What topics get the most traffic on your support site
- What types of support tickets do new users submit the most
You should have a good understanding of where your users’ hang-ups are. Make sure your product tour addresses and resolves your those challenges. If users get stuck using your software, they may not find the ‘aha moment’ or worse. If users run into problems using your product, you could undermine the momentum of your onboarding and product tours. If your value proposition is that your software makes their work easier, any challenges they encounter can cause them to think otherwise.
In addition to examining your product analytics, you should also take a deep dive into your walkthrough analytics. Look at:
- Completion rate
- Time for completion
- Initialization or utilization
From there, you should be able to determine how to optimize your walkthroughs for better performance.
| Problem | Solution |
| Low completion rates | This could be a sign that your product walkthrough isn’t engaging enough. Consider how to improve your copy to entice users to complete the tour. Low completion rates also could be a sign that the tour is just too long. If your time for completion is high for the few users that do finish the tour, it could mean you need to break the tour up into smaller chunks. The last thing to consider is if people abandon the tour because the features don’t apply to them. This is where segmentation can help you deliver better walkthroughs. |
| Low utilization | If your product tours are not being utilized, it could mean it’s not apparent how to start the walkthrough, so you need to change the way the tour launches. Low utilization also could mean people don’t find the content relevant. Make sure you explain what someone will get out of the tour if they spend the time on it. |
Adopt a Reliable Digital Adoption Platform for Your Walkthroughs
If you want to build a better product walkthrough, it starts with the right tool. As the highest-rated Digital Adoption Platform, Apty offers the ability to create custom walkthroughs for any web-based application. Apty’s advanced analytics give you the knowledge and insights to create engaging product tours. Apty’s code-free editor makes creating walkthroughs simple. For more information, check out on guide: Walkthrough Software: Why You Need It and How Interactive Walkthroughs Help Users.
