# In-app guidance

In-app guidance is help delivered inside a software product, at the moment and place a user needs it, rather than in separate documentation or courses. It includes tooltips, product tours, walkthroughs, checklists, banners and contextual help panels.

## What are the main types of in-app guidance?

In-app guidance comes in a handful of patterns, each suited to a different moment:

| Pattern | Best for |
|---|---|
| Tooltip | Explaining one control or field |
| Product tour | Orienting a new user or after a redesign |
| Walkthrough | Completing one specific task |
| Checklist | Multi-step setup over several sessions |
| Banner or announcement | Telling users something changed |
| Help panel | Searching answers without leaving the page |
| Empty state | Showing what to do when a screen has no data yet |

Most products need several of these. The skill is picking the right one for the moment, not using all of them at once.

## How do you match guidance to the moment?

Start from the user's state, not from the feature you want to promote. A new user with no goal yet needs orientation. A user stuck halfway through a task needs help with that task. A returning user after a release needs to know what moved.

Take an HR platform where a manager approves time off for the first time. A tour on login is wasted on them. A short pointer that appears when they open the request, explaining the approve and delegate options, lands.

Measure guidance by what users do afterwards (did they finish the task?), not by how many saw it or clicked Next.

## What does in-app guidance software do?

In-app guidance software lets non-engineers author help on top of a product's interface. Most tools in the category, including product tour tools and digital adoption platforms, offer:

- A visual editor to place tooltips, tours and checklists on the live UI
- Targeting by role, segment, page or behavior
- Analytics on views, clicks and completions

When comparing options, ask four questions. Does the guidance survive UI releases? Can it react to what the user has already done? Does it report task outcomes, not just views? Who on your team maintains the content?

## When should an agent do the task instead?

Guidance shows the way, and that fits when the user wants to learn. When they just want the task finished, an in-product agent can do it with them. Foldspace's Product Agent takes that task off the user's hands in the product, running it through the product's own APIs [with nothing beyond the signed-in user's permissions](https://docs.foldspace.ai/privacy/llm-governance/).

## Learn more

- [Product Agent](/platform/product-agent)