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 onboardingcomes 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 Beginner Expert 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.