What is in-app guidance?
In-app guidance is a product tour stop, checklist box, or tooltip that points at the next control on the way to a named aha, not a library of overlays. One step earns a place when it unlocks first work this segment can finish. A drawer of help chrome that covers every button is not guidance. It is a museum. Measure the stay, not whether they opened the overlay.
What is in-app guidance?
In-app guidance is a product tour stop, checklist box, or tooltip that points at the next control on the way to a named aha, not a library of overlays.
User onboarding is the larger job: the path from signup to the moment they stay. Guidance is one step on that job. It is not the catalog of help you can attach to every button.
How is in-app guidance different from in-app onboarding?
In-app guidance is one product tour stop, checklist box, or tooltip. In-app onboarding is the first hour those objects sit inside.
Onboarding is the sequence. Guidance is a step on it. If the welcome email names a different next action than the in-app objects, you shipped two first hours. Align the step. Do not collect more overlays and call the pile a program.
How is in-app guidance different from a product tour?
A product tour is one object that can carry several guidance steps. Guidance is the single point at one control.
A tour earns a place when each stop unlocks the next win for this segment. Users skip product tours that walk every screen because the script is not that point. Do not rename the script guidance. Keep the stop that points at invite, map, or one ship.
Is a library of overlays in-app guidance?
No. A library of overlays is help chrome that fires because a control exists. In-app guidance fires because this segment needs that control next.
Coverage of buttons is a completion metric. The stay is the outcome. An onboarding checklist is one object that can carry a real win. A checklist of vocabulary is still a drawer. If you can delete half the overlays and the first hour still reaches the same sentence, those overlays were a museum.
When does a guidance step earn a place?
A guidance step earns a place when it unlocks the next finishable win for this segment on this screen.
An enterprise lead from a competitor may need one hotspot on import. A manager of a team of 10 may need one box on invite. Same product. Different next control. Contextual onboarding is the wait for that screen and those answers. This page is only the step itself.
If the step would still fire after they already did the work, it is late. If it fires before the control is on the page, it is early. Cut both.
What should you stop doing on Monday?
Stop shipping an overlay drawer and calling the collection in-app guidance.
Write the aha in one sentence. Open the first session as two different people. Keep only the product tour stop, checklist box, or tooltip that points at the next control for each person. Delete the rest. Publish the short version on one sequence. The activation guide is the longer map this cut sits on. Measure the stay, not whether they opened help.
Questions people ask
What is in-app guidance?
In-app guidance is a product tour stop, checklist box, or tooltip that points at the next control on the way to a named aha, not a library of overlays. One step earns a place when it unlocks first work this segment can finish on this screen. A drawer of help chrome that covers every button because the button exists is not guidance. Measure the stay, not whether they opened the overlay. Delete the step that does not change the next finishable win.
How is in-app guidance different from in-app onboarding?
In-app guidance is one object on the first hour. In-app onboarding is that first hour inside the product, the product tour, checklist, and tooltip as steps on one sequence. Guidance is the point at one control. Onboarding is the sequence those points sit on. If the inbox names a different next step than the in-app objects, you split the hour. Align the step. Do not collect more overlays and call the pile a program.
How is in-app guidance different from a product tour?
A product tour is one object that can carry several guidance steps. Guidance is the single point at one control. A tour earns a place when each stop unlocks the next win for this segment. A tour that walks every screen is a script, and users skip that script. Do not rename the script guidance. Keep the stop that points at invite, map, or one ship. Cut the stops that only label chrome.
Is a library of overlays in-app guidance?
No. A library of overlays is help chrome that fires because a control exists. In-app guidance fires because this segment needs that control next on the way to the named aha. Coverage of buttons is a completion metric. The stay is the outcome. If you can delete half the overlays and the first hour still reaches the same sentence, those overlays were a museum. Keep the fewest objects. Publish that cut.
When does a guidance step earn a place?
A guidance step earns a place when it unlocks the next finishable win for this segment on this screen. An enterprise lead from a competitor may need one hotspot on import. A manager of a team of 10 may need one checklist box on invite. Same product. Different next control. If the step would still fire after they already did that work, it is late. If it fires before the control is on the page, it is early. Either way, cut it.
What should you stop doing on Monday?
Stop shipping an overlay drawer and calling the collection in-app guidance. Open the first session as an enterprise lead from a competitor and as a manager of a team of 10. Write the named aha in one sentence. Keep only the product tour stop, checklist box, or tooltip that points at the next control for each person. Delete the rest. Publish the short version. Measure whether they reached the stay, not whether they opened help.