When should a product tour wait?
A product tour should wait until the next control is on the page and the form answers that choose that control already exist. Fire it on empty settings and you taught them to skip. Fire it before they told you the job and you shipped one script to two first hours. Wait for the room and the answers. Then point at the one control that unlocks the next win.
When should a product tour wait?
A product tour should wait until the next control is on the page and the form answers that choose that control already exist.
Why users skip product tours owns the matching failure. Contextual onboarding owns what context is. This page owns the wait itself: keep the product tour off until the room and the answers are both true.
What is a product tour waiting for?
A product tour is waiting for the next control to exist on this screen and for the form answers that choose that control.
Product state is the room they are standing in. Form answers are who they already told you they are. In-app guidance is the point at one control once those facts exist. The wait is the gate before that point. Missing either fact is not a reason to write a longer script.
When should a product tour fire instead of wait?
A product tour should fire when the control that unlocks the next win is on this screen and the form already chose the job.
Point at invite for a manager of a team of 10. Point at map for an enterprise lead from a competitor. Then get out of the way. The aha is the destination. The tour is only the finger that points at the click that makes that destination possible.
Why wait for form answers before the product tour?
You wait for form answers because those answers choose which control the tour may point at.
An unanswered form leaves you with one script. One script cannot be two first hours. What a qualification form should ask is only what changes that first path. The form is the other half of the wait. A first name in a tooltip is not that half.
What happens if a product tour fires too early?
A product tour that fires too early teaches people to skip. On empty settings it labels chrome they cannot use yet.
Before the form answers exist it walks the average path, so both segments dismiss the same five stops. Skip is then a timing failure. It is not proof that tours are useless. In-app onboarding still needs a first hour. That hour does not start with a tour of a room that is not ready.
What should you do with an early product tour on Monday?
Open the first session as an enterprise lead from a competitor and as a manager of a team of 10, then keep the product tour off until the next control and the form answers both exist.
Write the aha each person is supposed to reach. Name the one control that unlocks that win. If that control is not on the screen, leave the tour off. If the form has not answered which job this is, leave the tour off. When both facts exist, fire the short tour at that control only. Keep that tour on one sequence. The activation guide is the longer map this wait sits on.
How to decide when a product tour should wait
- Write the named aha in one sentence a new user would recognize.
- Name the one control that unlocks the next win for an enterprise lead from a competitor and for a manager of a team of 10.
- Confirm that control is on the current screen and the form already answered which job this is.
- If the control is missing or the answers are missing, keep the product tour off.
- When both exist, fire the short tour at that control only, then get out of the way.
Questions people ask
When should a product tour wait?
A product tour should wait until the next control is on the page and the form answers that choose that control already exist. The tour is a pointer, not a welcome banner. If the control is not in the room, the hotspot labels empty chrome. If the form has not answered which job this is, one script hits two first hours. Wait for both. Then point at the one control that unlocks the next win and stop.
What is a product tour waiting for?
A product tour is waiting for two facts that must both be true. The next control has to live on the current screen so the click can finish work. The form answers have to already say which job this session is, so the tour picks invite, map, or ship instead of a default script. Product state is the room. Form answers are who is standing in it. Missing either fact is a wait, not a delay to polish copy.
When should a product tour fire instead of wait?
A product tour should fire when the control that unlocks the next win is on this screen and the form already chose the job. Point at invite for a manager of a team of 10. Point at map for an enterprise lead from a competitor. Then get out of the way. A tour that still has a reason after that click is late. A tour that talks before the control exists is early. Fire the short version only.
Why wait for form answers before the product tour?
You wait for form answers because the answers choose which control the tour may point at. An unanswered form leaves you with one script. One script cannot be two first hours. Ask only what changes the first path, then let those answers pick the hotspot. Role in a tooltip is not the wait. The wait is the branch that decides invite versus map before the tour starts.
What happens if a product tour fires too early?
A product tour that fires too early teaches people to skip. On empty settings it labels chrome they cannot use yet. Before the form answers exist it walks the average path, so both segments dismiss the same five stops. Skip is then a timing failure, not proof that tours are useless. Keep the tour off until the room and the answers exist. Measure the next win, not first-paint start rate.
What should you do with an early product tour on Monday?
Open the first session as an enterprise lead from a competitor and as a manager of a team of 10. Write the aha each person is supposed to reach. Name the one control that unlocks that win. If that control is not on the screen, or the form has not answered which job this is, keep the product tour off. When both facts exist, fire the short tour at that control only. Delete the stops that only label chrome.