How to design a Tour

The Tour is a step-by-step sequence of cards that navigates users through your app.

Tours are likely the feature you want for app adoption, but they will only work well if you carefully consider all of their key aspects. Keep in mind that Tours are only one part of the product adoption toolbox.

Best practices for tours

Don't kick off your onboarding design with complicated Feature tours

-> Feature tours are generally a bit more complicated from a technical point of view. Ease your users in with a simple Welcome Tour, supplemented by a few Hints, and only then create your first Feature Tour.

Use Hints

-> When it comes to Tours, you're essentially taking the steering wheel of the user, which may not be ideal for all scenarios or the user experience. Try not to overuse tours, and consider breaking things up with Hints instead.

4-5 cards are optimal

-> Users tend to cancel a Tour that is too long. A single-card tour is often more effective than a long presentation.

Provide users with the option to replay the tour

-> Inevitably, some users will skip or cancel tours, but at some point they may want to see it again. Give them the option to replay tours when they are ready. The Life Ring Button is the perfect tool for doing so.

Don't rely on Tours alone

Tours are only one tool in the onboarding box. They won't create the magic of a great flow without support from Hints, Feedback, the Life Ring Button, and Announcements. Game-changing onboarding stems from the utilization of the entire onboarding package.

The Welcome Tour

Don't start by throwing new users into a Feature Tour the moment they arrive in your app. Welcome them. Be friendly. Give them time to familiarize themselves with your product.

The purpose of the Welcome Tour is not just welcome, but to excite the user. They have just arrived in your app, and you want to assure them that they are in the right place and that you know how to solve their problems.

The typical setup is 3-4 cards: A welcome card, Summarising your USPs, a Youtube video, or a Testimonial.

Feature Tour

With a Feature Tour, you are guiding users in your app. The purpose of a Feature tour is to teach users how to use your app. Don't create a long tour; try to stick to 3-5 cards. If you really need a longer tour, cut them into shorter sections.

Here are a few more tips for Tours

Link to a Tour from a Hint

Provide basic information with hints and offer users the option to start a tour from the hint icon or a custom button to get more information and guidance.

image showing how to link a tour from a hint

Link to a Tour from Text on a Tour Card

You can also link to a tour directly from the text of a tour card by highlighting the text and clicking the link button:

image showing how to link a tour from tour card text

Link Tours from the Life Ring Button

You'll likely want to give your users an option to replay tours when ready. The Life Ring Button is the ideal place for that.

image showing tours in the life ring button

Divide long tours into shorter chunks

The overambitious tour is the single biggest reason users cancel tours.

If you really need a longer tour, consider cutting it into shorter chunks that form a logical sequence. We call these chunks "mini-tours". A mini-tour typically consists of no more than 3 cards. If a user cancels such a mini-tour, they can still continue with the next mini-tour.

image showing example mini tour flows with user cancelling the tour at different points

Analytics

Check Product Fruits Analytics for how users are interacting with your Tours. Don't expect everyone to see the tour through to the end; that's not its purpose. Some users need just the first card, some want to be guided through the entire tour, and some won't need the tour at all. The tour will be seen by users that need it.