Product adoption and in-app guidance, defined

Plain definitions of the terms that come up when a team evaluates onboarding and support tooling.

• Contextual helpContextual help is assistance tailored to what a user is trying to do, such as a hint beside a form field or instructions for a task. It uses information about the task, account, or user role to make the help relevant.
• Customer onboardingCustomer onboarding is the process of helping a new customer set up a product and reach the outcome they bought it for. In B2B software, it can include implementation, data import, account configuration, training, and the first working use of the product.
• Digital adoption platformA digital adoption platform (DAP) adds guidance to a software application to help people learn and use it. Its tools can include walkthroughs, tooltips, checklists, usage analytics, and contextual help for employees or customers.
• Feature adoptionFeature adoption describes how users begin using a specific feature and continue using it when relevant. It is narrower than product adoption: someone may rely on a product while using only the features needed for their work.
• In-app guidanceIn-app guidance is help delivered inside a product’s interface. It includes tooltips, walkthroughs, checklists, help panels, and assistants that explain features or help users complete tasks.
• Knowledge baseA knowledge base is an organized collection of articles, guides, and answers about a product or subject. It can provide public help for customers, internal reference material for a team, or source information for an AI assistant.
• Onboarding checklistAn onboarding checklist is a list of tasks that helps a new user get started with a product. It shows what to do next and which tasks are complete, so the user can work through setup and return to unfinished items.
• Product adoptionProduct adoption is the process of beginning to use a product and making it part of a routine. Activation, repeat use, and retention help show whether people are getting ongoing value from it.
• Product agentA product agent is an AI agent that learns how an application works by using it. It can use that knowledge to answer questions, guide people through workflows, or take supported actions. Its knowledge depends on the workflows and information it can access.
• Product tourA product tour is a sequence of in-app prompts that introduces a product’s interface or a feature. It can use tooltips, modals, or highlighted controls to explain where things are and how to get started.
• Product walkthroughA product walkthrough guides a user through a task in an application, one step at a time. It explains the actions needed to reach an outcome, such as connecting an integration or creating a report, and may advance as each action is completed.
• Ticket deflectionTicket deflection happens when a person resolves a support question through self-service, such as a help article or automated assistant, instead of opening a ticket. Measuring it requires a clear rule for what counts as a resolved question.
• User onboardingUser onboarding is the process of helping a new user get started with a product and complete a first useful task. It includes necessary setup, an introduction to relevant features, and help learning the workflows they need.