Guided tours

In a guided tour, users see a set of ordered tooltips that demonstrate a new feature or how to accomplish a task. Users click through the content at their own pace to learn things that can improve their experience with our products.

Guided tours build on contextual help design patterns.

Content design for guided tours

  • Limit the series of tooltips to 3 or 4.
  • Depending on the content, some tours might include as many as 6 tooltips. But at that point, we might want to consider other ways of delivering the content, such as a video tutorial or help article.
  • Keep copy concise (no more than 3 lines per tooltip).
  • If the tooltip includes a title, set it in sentence case. Titles can wrap as needed.
  • Limit the number of guidance tooltips per screen. Too many of these links clutter the experience and makes the product seem harder than it is. For desktop screens, the maximum number of tips is 3. For mobile screens, the maximum number is 1.
  • When introducing new functionality, lead with verbs. Example: Use this dropdown menu to select a payment method.
  • Accessibility note: Be sure the experience works for users navigating the site with screen readers. For content design, that means avoiding directional language, like “at the top of the screen.”
  • Once the user dismisses the tour, either by following it to the end or by selecting an “X” to close it, a message appears that lets them know where they can find the help content if they need it later.

Use this dropdown menu to select a payment method.

Click here to select a payment method.