What is a product walkthrough?
A product walkthrough is step-by-step guidance that leads a user through completing one specific task inside a product, such as creating a first report or connecting an integration. Each step waits for the user to act before showing the next one.
How is a product walkthrough different from a product tour?
A product walkthrough gets one task done; a product tour shows the user around. The two are often confused because they use the same building blocks (pointers, tooltips, modals), but they start from different questions.
| Product tour | Product walkthrough | Agent doing the steps | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starts from | "Here is the product" | "Here is how to do X" | "I want X" |
| Who acts | User reads and follows the pointers | User does each step | Agent does the steps, user confirms |
| When it shows | First login, after a redesign | When the user starts a task | When the user asks |
| Ends when | Last step is viewed | Task is done | Task is done |
What is an interactive walkthrough?
An interactive walkthrough runs on the live interface and moves on only when the user completes the current step: typing a value, picking an option, clicking Save. Nothing is simulated.
Take an invoicing app and the task "set up a recurring invoice." The walkthrough highlights Customers, waits for the user to pick one, points at "New recurring invoice," waits for a frequency and start date, then points at Save. Six steps, each gated on the real action.
Good walkthroughs share a few habits:
- Triggered by intent: they start when the user begins the task, not on a timer.
- Aware of state: they skip steps the user has already done.
- Short: past five or six steps, split the task or simplify the screen.
- Maintained: they get retested after each UI release, because a renamed button breaks the step that points at it.
When should an agent do the steps instead?
A walkthrough keeps the user in charge of every click. That is right when learning the steps matters, such as a task they will repeat daily and need to do fast.
For tasks done once or rarely (setup, configuration, a quarterly export), the user doesn't want to learn the path. They want the result. Here the user says "bill Acme monthly starting on the 1st," the agent fills in the form, and the user checks and confirms. Foldspace's Product Agent handles these one-off tasks: it puts the filled-in form in the conversation for the user to check, then runs the steps against the product's existing APIs, as far as that user's permissions allow.