What is in-app guidance?
In-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.
Different types of in-app guidance
Proactive guidance introduces help before someone asks. Examples include a feature announcement, a setup checklist, or a prompt to finish configuring an integration.
Reactive guidance responds to a request, such as opening a help panel or asking an assistant a question. Either approach can use predefined content or an assistant's product knowledge.
Choosing the right format
A tooltip can explain a field. A checklist can organize several setup tasks. A walkthrough can guide someone through connecting a data source, and a help panel can provide reference information without closing the task.
Use the amount of guidance the task requires. A short explanation may be enough for a label; a permissions change may need prerequisites, instructions, and a way to contact support.
Keeping guidance useful
Choose an audience and a reason for showing each message. Let people dismiss optional guidance and return to it later. Avoid covering the controls needed to complete the task.
Review instructions when a workflow changes. Check labels, links, targeting rules, and completion conditions. For assistant-led guidance, review the knowledge and actions the assistant has access to as well.
How Frigade fits
Frigade Assistant answers questions and guides users through product workflows. Suggestions let your team offer a task through a nudge targeted by page or user property. Our digital adoption platform comparison covers related approaches to in-app guidance.
Common questions
- What is the difference between in-app guidance and a help center?
- In-app guidance describes where help appears: inside the product. A help center organizes articles and reference material that can be read on their own or opened from the product. They can work together, with a short instruction linking to a fuller explanation.
- Does in-app guidance annoy users?
- It can, especially when it blocks a task or repeats information someone already knows. Make guidance relevant, easy to dismiss, and available when needed. Check completion and dismissal patterns alongside feedback to see whether it is helping.