In-app "help" wasn't always this annoying (it was worse)
Imagine you run into an issue with a SaaS product. With a sigh, you poke around to make it work, swatting away the product tours and hints coming to âhelpâ you. If that fails, you scour the docs for an answer with elevated blood pressure. Canât find anything? Bring up AI chat, which hallucinates an answer. With your blood boiling, you write a support ticket youâll only get an answer to in a few hours.
Itâs crazy that we consider this experience frustrating. Not too long ago, this bad boy right here wouldâve been your only option:
Today, we complain about âannoyingâ in-app help that any internet user 20 years ago would dream of. Few people know that better than Tonia Sharp. Sheâs worked with documentation and technical writing for decades, all within the software industry including for on-prem, private cloud, and SaaS applications. With 30 years of documentation and technical writing experience, Tonia is passionate about user-focused content that makes customersâ jobs easier.
I spoke with her about how in-app help has evolved, how user expectations have skyrocketed and the potential future of user assistance.
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