Creating Kick-Ass Users AN  APPROACH  TO  ONBOARDING  AND  USER  ASSISTANCE  

Stefanie Andersen stefanie.andersen@salesforce.com www.linkedin.com/in/stefandersen

Video games are great at teaching unfamiliar controls and unfamiliar skills. In a lot of games, you start without knowing anything at all – you don’t even know what your goal is. You’re dropped into this unfamiliar world, and you have to figure out what it is you’re supposed to do and how.

Josh Clark, “Buttons are a Hack: The New Rules of Designing for Touch”

If you want to learn how to onboard new users,

play more video games.

Plants VS Zombies Onboarding

•  Just-in-Time Guidance (verbal and visual) •  Feedback •  Limited Options Guaranteed Success

How Games Teach

•  Coaching •  Leveling Up •  Power Ups

Games are linear. Products aren’t.

How can we apply game dynamics to software

onboarding experiences?

Siasto Onboarding

•  Consistent, clear visual guide (yellow circle) •  Compelling, encouraging language •  Emphasis on learning by doing Steps are sequenced into small chunks and structured in a logical progression Feedback is provided Reduces cognitive load by helping the user decide what to do next Makes the user feel productive right away Employs cognitive pleasures (curiosity, narrative, discovery, and accomplishment)

The term onboarding comes from the field of human resources and the common practice of new hire orientation. In that context, the steps in the process are often referred to as accommodate, assimilate, and accelerate—all of which apply quite nicely to how new users ought to be treated in order to bring them into the fold.

Whitney Hess, “What is Onboarding, and Why is it Important?” Designing Social Interfaces

Onboarding Defined

ACCOMMODATE Give users the tools they want and need to use your app or website to their benefit.

ASSIMILATE Help new users absorb the culture of the product and come to resemble the existing users.

ACCELERATE Deliver on the value proposition better and faster.

New User Spiral

Image: Erin Malone, Onboarding and Virality

TIME  

ABILITY  

First  Time   Years  or  Decades  

Beginn

er  

Expe

rt  

KICK-­‐ASS  THRESHOLD  

SUCK  THRESHOLD  

SUCK!ZONE!

The Kick-Ass Curve

Image: Kathy Sierra, Business of Software Conference

New Hire Sales Rep Ninja

Creating kick-ass users

Image: Julie Dirksen, Design for How People Learn

The User’s Journey

Instructional Design and Game Design

novice expert

Instructional Design Appropriate Content, Appropriate Approach

Appropriate Content

What does the program do? What is the program’s scope? Where do I start?

I forgot how to import. Remind me what this option does. Is there a feature that can help me with this?

How do I automate this? Is there a shortcut? Can I customize this?

Beginners Intermediates Experts

•  A structured experience that has immediate, achievable goals

•  Lots of guidance •  A careful introduction that doesn’t

go too quickly in the beginning •  Increasing self-confidence •  A gradual progression of difficulty •  Coaching and feedback on progress

•  Some practice of new concepts •  Advanced topic information •  Coaching and shaping for

improvement of existing behaviors •  Much more autonomy

•  Really expert coaching •  Advanced examples and information

about specific challenges •  Some help with measuring progress •  Full autonomy •  The opportunity to act as a resource

by teaching or coaching others

Appropriate Approach

Approaches: Julie Dirksen, Design for How People Learn

•  A structured experience that has immediate, achievable goals

•  Lots of guidance •  A careful introduction that doesn’t go too

quickly in the beginning •  Increasing self-confidence •  A gradual progression of difficulty •  Coaching and feedback on how they’re doing

What The Beginner Needs

•  A structured experience that has immediate, achievable goals

•  Lots of guidance •  A careful introduction that doesn’t go too

quickly in the beginning •  Increasing self-confidence •  A gradual progression of difficulty •  Coaching and feedback on how they’re doing

What Games Provide

The  user  is    on  a  path.  

The  user  is    on  a  quest.  

Instructional Design

Game Design

Fun is just another word for learning.

Ralph Koster, A Theory of Fun for Game Design

Fun from games arises out of mastery. It arises out of comprehension. In other words, with games, learning is the drug.

Ralph Koster, A Theory of Fun for Game Design

THIS IS YOUR BRAIN

OMG!  

THIS  IS  YOUR  BRAIN  ON  LEARNING  

OUR"SECRET"WEAPON?

LEARNING  

BORING FUN

Fun is just another word for learning.

under optimal conditions !

APPS  CAN  BE  GREAT  TEACHERS  

(ACTUAL  CLASSROOM)  

How do we engage our users and help them learn our products?

USER ASSISTANCE

A Theory of User Assistance

Information Design"

Interaction"Design"

Instructional"Design"

Game"Design"

USER!ASSISTANCE!

COMPETITIVE RESEARCH Effec:ve  Onboarding  

ONBOARDING PRINCIPLES

#1

Be Persuasive

How Behavior Works

Behavior  =  MoGvaGon  x  Ability  x  Trigger  

FogG Behavioral Model

An Example

Behavior = Motivation x Ability x Trigger

Increasing Behavior

Make the behavior easier

Use a better trigger

Align with the right motivator

•  Discovery: User experience as exploration of new territory

•  Challenge: User experience as obstacles to overcome, goals lying just beyond current skill and knowledge levels

•  Narrative: User experience as story arc (user on hero's journey) and character identification

•  Social framework: User experience as an opportunity for interaction/fellowship

with others •  Flow: User experience as opportunity for complete concentration, extreme

focus, lack of self-awareness

•  Accomplishment: User experience as opportunity for productivity and success •  Learning: User experience as opportunity for growth and improvement

•  Triumph: User experience as opportunity to kick ass

Cognitive Pleasures

Why Should We Care About Cognitive Pleasures?

Cognitive pleasures can:

•  Focus the user’s attention •  Keep users motivated •  Create pleasurable, meaningful experiences

Focus the User’s Attention

Image: Julie Dirksen, Design for How People Learn

RIDER elephant

RIDER: The brain’s controlled processes ELEPHANT: The brain’s automatic processes

Keep the User Motivated

Image: Julie Dirksen, Design for How People Learn Metaphor: Jonathon Haidt, Happiness Hypothesis

Are you speaking to the rider by setting clear goals and a path to get there?

Are you motivating the elephant through

things that excite and inspire action?

Are you shaping the path to nudge the elephant and rider along in the same direction?

Image: Julie Dirksen, Design for How People Learn

CREATE  PLEASURABLE,  MEANINGFUL  EXPERIENCES  

HIERARCHY  OF  USER  NEEDS  

Create Meaningful Experiences

Tasks

Experiences

Hierarchy of User Assistance Needs

Image: Stephen Anderson, Seductive Interaction Design

#2

Offer Clear Goals and Guidance

#3

Shape the Path

Enticing users to use an application (marketing) while teaching them how to use it (onboarding) – is a process I call gradual engagement.

Nathan Barry, A Lesson in Gradual Engagement

#4

Make It Relevant and Meaningful

Product or tool

Beyond the tool

Product or tool

THE BIGGER, COOLER THING!

Beyond the tool

Image: Kathy Sierra, Business of Software

#5

Inspire Users with Ideas and Examples

#6

Use Compelling, Conversational Language

Are you guiding the user by setting clear goals and a path to

get there?

Are you motivating the user through things that excite

and inspire action?

Are you shaping the path to nudge

the user in the right direction?

Evaluating Onboarding Designs

Our Mission Should We Choose to Accept It

Engage | Motivate | Educate | Make It Epic

Recipe for Creating

Kick-Ass Users

Thanks.

Sources

Anderson, Stephen. Seductive Interaction Design: Creating Playful, Fun, and Effective User Experiences. New Riders Press, 2011.

Clark, Josh. “Buttons are a Hack: The New Rules of Designing for Touch.” UIE Virtual Seminar. http://www.uie.com.

Clark, Ruth and Richard Mayer. E-Learning and the Science of Instruction. Pfeiffer, 2011.

Cooper, Alan, Robert Reinman, and David Cronin. About Face 3: The Essentials of Interaction Design. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2007.

Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2008.

Dignan, Aaron. Game Frame: Using Games as a Strategy for Success. Free Press, 2011.

Dirksen, Julie. Design for How People Learn. New Riders Press, 2012. Fogg, B.J. Persuasive Technology: Using Computers to Change What We

Think and Do. Morgan Kaufmann, 2002. Haidt, Jonathon. Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient

Wisdom. Basic Books, 2006.

Sources

Heath, Chip and Dan Heath. Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard. Crown Business, 2010.

Johnson, Jeff. Designing with the Mind in Mind: Simple Guide to Understanding User Interface Design Rules. Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, 2010.

Kapp, Karl. The Gamification of Learning and Instruction: Game-Based Methods and Strategies for Training and Education. John Wiley & Sons, 2012.

Koster, Ralph. A Theory of Fun for Game Design. Paraglyph Press, 2004. Pink, Daniel. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.

Riverhead Trade, 2011. Porter, Joshua. “Designing for Social Traction.” Slideshare. Salen, Katie and Eric Zimmerman. Rules of Play: Fundamentals of Game

Design. The MIT Press, 2003. Sierra, Kathy. “Creating Passionate Users.” Blog. Sierra, Kathy. “Creating Passionate Users.” Business of Software

Conference, 2009. Video.

Sources

Walter, Aarron. Designing for Emotion. A Book Apart, 2011. Ware, Colin. Visual Thinking: for Design. Morgan Kaufmann, 2008. Weinschenk, Susan. 100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know about

People. New Riders Press, 2011. Willingham, Daniel. Why Don’t Students Like School? A Cognitive Scientist

Answers Question about How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom. Jossey-Bass, 2009.

Willis, Judy. Research-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning: Insights from a Neuroscientist and Classroom Teacher. ASCD, 2006.