Struggling to turn those wide-eyed newbies into confident users? And what about those complex steps that are so confusing they make even your resident wizards blink twice? Interactive walkthrough software can give your users the clarity they are looking for.
In this article, I reveal my top interactive walkthrough software picks to help you find the perfect software for your needs. We'll break down features, pricing, and ease of use to make sure you choose the best software to help you create confident users.
What Are Interactive Walkthroughs?
Interactive walkthroughs are product tours that pop up right within an application to give users step-by-step guidance. These can be quick two-step tutorials or they can delve deeper into complex workflows. Either way, they can explain entire tasks or simply offer some handy tips to make users feel like software rockstars.
Benefits of Interactive Walkthrough Software
Here are some of my favorite ways that interactive walkthroughs can help you out:
Enhanced Onboarding: Engages users with step-by-step guidance, reducing the need for external support and transforming onboarding into an active learning process.
Accelerated Adoption: Improves product retention and user experience by providing contextual learning, directly impacting ROI.
Improved Compliance: Ensures adherence to company policies through guided walkthroughs, enhancing governance.
Reduced Costs: Decreases training and support expenses by enabling self-service learning and reducing support tickets.
Contextual Guidance: Provides personalized, real-time assistance based on users' actions and locations within the application, improving the learning experience.
Always Available: Accessible 24/7, allowing users to learn independently, promoting continuous engagement and problem-solving.
What to Look for in Interactive Walkthrough Software
To pick the best interactive walkthrough that aligns with your specific needs, consider these product features:
Code-Free Solution: Prioritize software that doesn't require coding expertise, allowing you to create and manage walkthroughs without relying on technical skills. This empowers non-technical users to actively contribute to the onboarding process, streamlining the creation and maintenance of walkthroughs.
User Segmenting: Choose software that lets you segment your users into distinct groups based on their roles. This segmentation allows you to tailor walkthroughs to their specific needs.
User Behavior Data: Select software that captures and analyzes user behavior data and provides valuable insights into how users interact with the enterprise software application. You can use this to identify rage clicks, pinpoint popular pages/resources, and watch recorded sessions. You can use this data to identify where users are getting stuck so that you can modify walkthroughs.
Analytics: Seek software that offers comprehensive analytics, enabling you to track key metrics such as help item views, hours saved, and % ROI achieved. These insights can help you evaluate the effectiveness of your walkthroughs and identify areas for improvement.
In-App Feedback: Choose software that has in-app feedback mechanisms so that users can provide feedback directly within the walkthrough experience. This real-time feedback can help you identify areas of confusion or difficulty, enabling you to make timely adjustments to improve the walkthrough content.
Pre-Made Content: Consider software that offers a library of pre-made walkthrough templates and content, providing a solid foundation for creating your own walkthroughs. These templates can save you time and effort, allowing you to focus on customizing the content to fit your specific needs. For example, Ask Vic has over 1,000 Microsoft-specific support items.
Tips for Creating Interactive Walkthroughs
Keep it simple and concise: Avoid overwhelming users with too much information at once. Break down the walkthrough into manageable steps and use clear and easy-to-understand language.
Use visuals effectively: Screenshots, videos, and GIFs can be great tools for helping users understand complex procedures. Use them strategically to complement your written instructions.
Test with real users: Always test your walkthroughs with real users to identify problems. Gather feedback and make adjustments accordingly.
Schedule Walkthroughs: Rather than bombarding users with several tutorials at once, schedule them out. That way, as they are more comfortable with the platform, they can go a layer deeper with a new tutorial.
Ask Vic is affordable and easy to use, offering interactive guides, helpful resources, and analytics. It comes with a lot of ready-to-use content, making it easy to get started. Plus, it's designed to be user-friendly, providing strong support to help users along the way.
WalkMe offers a comprehensive set of interactive walkthroughs, contextual self-help resources, and in-app analytics. However, its setup and launch can be complex, requiring users to attend a "builder school" for training. Additionally, WalkMe is one of the more expensive Digital Adoption Platforms (DAPs) on the market.
Pendo provides a user-friendly interface and robust analytics capabilities. It's primarily designed for websites and web-based applications for external users. While Pendo is easy to use, some users find its features limited, and costs can increase as organizations grow.
Whatfix offers a wide range of features, is easy to use, and allows user segmentation. It also has an affordable base price. However, users have noted that Whatfix is not as scalable as other platforms and can be complex to set up and configure. Additionally, costs can increase as you add internal applications to the platform.
If you'd like to test out walkthroughs to see how they work, you can get started with Ask Vic for free.
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