Interactive Creation and Use of Walkthroughs: Examples and Tips

Interactive walkthroughs are an essential part of the user experience. They help users easily navigate your app by guiding them step-by-step, making app features easier to understand and boosting engagement.

Whether you’re onboarding new users or introducing new features, interactive walkthroughs ensure your user stays engaged. This reduces support requests and increases satisfaction. 

They are handy for fintech, health tech, gaming, and e-commerce businesses. 

In this blog, we’ll explore walkthroughs and share tips on how you can make them more effective in your app.

Understanding App Interactive Walkthroughs

Interactive walkthroughs are guides that help users navigate through apps. Their primary purpose is to simplify complex processes and enhance user experience. 

They appear as overlays or tooltips, helping users navigate challenging processes like setting up an account. Ultimately, they are your app’s digital guides, taking your users from visits to conversion.

These clear, bite-sized instructions that make users feel supported can achieve higher process completion rates. Therefore, they are essential for businesses to drive adoption and reduce bounce rates.

Now that you have an idea about interactive walkthroughs, let’s move to their benefits.

Advantages of Interactive Walkthroughs

Walkthroughs come with a lot of perks. This makes them a must-have for businesses looking to keep users around. Here’s how they help:

1. Boosts Feature Exploration: Users can easily explore your app features step-by-step.
2. Enhances User Retention: Users stick around longer when offered simplified guidance.
3. Improves Feature Adoption: Users are 20% more likely to adopt your features when introduced through walkthroughs.
4. Reduces Support Tickets: Walkthroughs answer common questions, reducing customer support load. This also means a reduced budget for traditional support channels.
5. Increases Satisfaction: Users feel accomplished mastering features without external help.
6. Drives Repeated Interactions: Walkthroughs encourage users to increase their app engagement, leading to repeated interactions.
7. Saves Time for Users: Clear instructions help avoid confusion and frustration.

These benefits make walkthroughs a vital tool for businesses where optimizing user experiences is crucial to success.

While you know the benefits of an effective walkthrough, it's important to choose the right one for your app. Let’s move on to the various types of walkthroughs. 

Types of Walkthroughs

You can design your walkthroughs to meet specific goals. This makes them versatile tools for improving user experience. Here are some common types:

1. Onboarding Walkthroughs: These introductory guides help new users become familiar with the app. Onboarding walkthroughs typically cover core features and help users set up their accounts. 
2. Feature Discovery Walkthroughs: A guided walkthrough can help your users get used to your app’s new features. These are effective in keeping your loyal users engaged.
3. Process Walkthroughs: These walkthroughs are your users' saviors when it comes to handling complex or multi-step processes. 
4. Goal-Driven Walkthroughs: For apps with specific user goals, such as fitness apps, these guides help users take action to reach their objectives.

Choose the most suitable walkthrough type depending on your app’s services and goals. 

Now, let’s look at a few real-life examples of compelling walkthroughs.

Examples of Effective Walkthroughs

Interactive walkthroughs are most effective in specific scenarios. The tried-and-tested ones include the user onboarding journey and feature introductions.

Now, we’ll discuss with examples how walkthroughs can transform user experiences in these two scenarios.

Shine’s Effective App User Onboarding 

The fintech app Shine used a gamified walkthrough with progress bars to guide new users. This fun and simple strategy helped them achieve an impressive 80% conversion rate during onboarding​.

Quick Ride’s Proactive Customer Support Through Customized Experiences

Walkthroughs can also act like built-in customer support. If a user gets stuck, a walkthrough can jump in with a little nudge in the right direction.

Quick Ride, a mobile game, introduced a new "Auto Confirm" feature using walkthroughs. The walkthrough led to an 8x increase in feature adoption.​

While improving the overall user retention, the app also reduced the number of support tickets.

Amazon’s A+ Content Walkthrough for Conversions

The Amazon A+ content feature provides users with an interactive app walkthrough experience. This is attained by adopting enhanced multimedia, such as 360-degree views, comparison charts, and videos. 

Reports show that products with A+ content can increase conversion rates by up to 10%. Such interactions make users feel more informed and engaged with the app. 

Walkthroughs ensure that your app delivers more value through personalized, guided experiences. 

Now that you know how practical walkthroughs can be, let’s look into the steps to create one!

Steps to Create an Effective Interactive Walkthrough

Creating an effective walkthrough requires thorough planning. The focus must lie on simplicity and user engagement. Here’s a step-by-step guide to creating your ideal walkthrough:

1. Define the Walkthrough’s Goal: First, identify your app walkthrough's primary purpose. Is it for onboarding, introducing new features, or assisting with multi-step processes? Setting a clear goal helps you keep the walkthrough focused and relevant.
2. Map Out User Actions: Now, develop a step-by-step map for your guide. Highlight the actions where guidance is essential to keep the flow smooth and direct.
3. Test and Iterate: Conduct regular user tests to gather feedback on your walkthrough’s effectiveness. A/B tests can help you identify more effective steps.
4. Keep it Concise: Focus on the essentials and avoid overloading users with information. Short, clear instructions make users more likely to complete the walkthrough.

Following these steps will help you create interactive walkthroughs that guide users smoothly, enhancing app engagement and boosting user satisfaction. 

Tips for Creating Walkthroughs

A practical, interactive walkthrough is somewhere between straightforward and engaging. The goal is to guide users through your app without overwhelming them.

Here are two critical tips to ensure your walkthroughs hit the mark.

1. Use Engaging Visuals and Animations:

• Include animations like progress bars to guide users and boost completion rates.
• Highlight buttons with nudges and step indicators to keep users on track.
• Example: Google Pay’s in-app tooltips help users navigate onboarding smoothly.

Personalized User Guidance and Segmenting by User Types:

• Segment walkthroughs for different user factors like levels, geographical location, and preferences.
• Targeted content keeps users engaged and improves retention and stickiness.
• Example: Netflix provides custom guides, such as parental controls for beginners and download tips for advanced users.

Lastly, keep it simple! Too much information all at once can overwhelm users. Focus on the core steps needed to complete a task, and keep the walkthrough concise.The steps above ensure your users experience a smooth and enjoyable walkthrough in your app. Therefore, following these tips ensures that you create a motivating interaction during the walkthrough.

Conclusion

Interactive walkthroughs reduce confusion, increase adoption, and improve user satisfaction with step-by-step instructions. The key to making great walkthroughs is keeping them simple, engaging, and personalized.

In addition, ensure that your walkthroughs are consistent across devices and operating systems.

With Plotline’s expert in-app elements, like nudges, you can design dynamic walkthroughs for smooth onboarding flows and engagement.

Start your free trial to enhance your in-app walkthrough experience.