Whether it’s a new application, software, or any other kind of digital product, it’s essential to provide a guided walkthrough that helps new users understand how it all works.
Key Takeaways:
- What are guided walkthroughs?
- How they benefit the user
- Implementing a guided walkthrough in your digital product
- Outsourcing the development of the guided walkthrough
When creating a digital product, make sure the end user understands how it works – at their own pace. You can help them accomplish this in a number of ways, but a go-to solution is by implementing a guided walkthrough. As you work on digital product design and development, you should consider many key factors, and guided walkthroughs are one of the most important.
If a user isn’t able to discern the purpose of your digital product or quickly learn how to use the many included features, you’ll undoubtedly see a drop in user retention, revenue, and other adverse effects. You want to keep users around for the long term, and that means giving them everything they need to use your product from the start.
Not only will guided walkthroughs improve user retention, but they’ll also benefit adoption and increase your user base. To successfully implement this critical feature, ensure it’s fluid, informative, and doesn’t impose too much on the user. There are a few key components to consider when developing a guided walkthrough to ensure it serves its intended purpose.
What are guided walkthroughs?
An interactive experience that acts as an onboarding tool for new users, guided walkthroughs are integral to product development. It maneuvers users through the overall functionality and value of what your application or digital product has to offer. This feature provides information on how to use the product and offers a multi-layered approach to give them the full scope of what the application or software is capable of.
This also helps to drive the natural curiosity of the human mind, and it will prompt users to explore on their own once the walkthrough is complete. There are also multiple advantages when targeting existing users, as guided walkthroughs are great for updates and alerting users to new information or features.
Guided walkthroughs generally come with a step-by-step approach that prompts users to move forward and spend more time looking through the application. As they learn more about the product, they’ll inevitably spend more time with it for a better understanding. This particular feature is also great for showing users exactly why the application is useful and how they can use it to their advantage.
How do guided walkthroughs benefit the user?
If you don’t show users what your application or software is capable of, they may never use it to its full potential. Moreover, without a comprehensive look at how your product works and how it’s used, you’ll likely encounter a drop in user retention. With the help of a guided walkthrough, users can see the value of your product and how it pertains to their particular lifestyles and interests.
This is how you cater to a broad demographic of users with an all-in-one approach. Product development comes with many necessary steps, but if a guided walkthrough gets left out, a lot of the work you put into the digital product could go to waste.
Guided walkthroughs give users the ability to:
- Give a variety of features a test run
- Understand its functionality
- Realize the short and long-term value
- See how it can benefit their interests and lifestyle
Once a user has experienced this quick, overarching presentation of your product, you’ll start seeing an increase in retention rate. Laying out what you want to add to the walkthrough is essential, and this is where intuitive and innovative product development comes into play.
Product design and development for guided walkthroughs
It’s easy to talk about what you’d like to include with the guided walkthrough, but how it looks and feels to the user is crucial. You want to implement it in a way that intrigues users and doesn’t seem like a nuisance. Every step of the walkthrough should spark an increasing interest in your digital product, and this can be done with the help of quality product design and development.
This is a challenge that many developers face, as there’s a fine line between what’s effective and what might be jarring to the user. To ensure your guided walkthrough hits all the key points necessary for your product to connect to the end user, you’ll want to consider three vital aspects.
- The goal: Include which aspects of your app will drive the most user retention while generating interest in exploring your application.
- The content: Focus on the product design of the guided walkthrough with quality images, text, and actionable elements.
- The targeting: Appeal to your target audience for the best response rate possible. You want to make sure the walkthrough is developed and catered to their interests.
It’s understandable that this whole process can be somewhat of a challenge, and it never hurts to seek outside help from those who have been there before.
Outsource development to the experts
If you feel stuck on what your walkthrough’s product design and development should look like, working with Shockoe is the answer to this roadblock. We’ve spent years operating as a multifaceted digital agency and have plenty of first-hand experience creating fluid guided walkthroughs for a broad range of digital products.
We offer consultation on what you should include with your walkthrough, and you can outsource development to us for a stellar and effective outcome. Depending on the specific needs of your guided walkthrough, we can adapt where needed and improve your chances of user retention and overall adoption. Contact us today to get started.
Sign up for the Shockoe newsletter and we’ll keep you updated with the latest blogs, podcasts, and events focused on emerging mobile trends.