A Product Tour in a SaaS (Software as a Service) web application is a guided, interactive feature that typically introduces new users to the app's main functions and interface. It is designed to help users understand the essentials of the app quickly, so they can start using it with more confidence and ease.
Think of a Product Tour as your first day at a new job, and you have a friendly colleague showing you around, pointing out where you can find everything you need to get your work done. The Product Tour in a SaaS app serves a similar purpose; it walks you through different parts of the app, explaining what each part does and how you can use the various tools and features.
During a Product Tour, users might experience the following:
Step-by-Step Guidance: The tour takes you through the features one at a time, in logical order, so you can follow along without getting lost.
Highlights and Explanations: It points out and describes key features, typically overlaying the current screen with instructions and highlights to direct your attention.
Interactivity: The tour may invite you to complete simple actions, like clicking a button or typing into a field, to learn by doing.
Navigation Controls: There are usually options to go to the next step, go back to review a previous step, or to end the tour early, giving you control over your learning pace.
Accessibility: The Product Tour is built to be easy for everyone to follow, no matter their prior experience with similar applications.
The goal of a Product Tour is to reduce the learning curve for new users and to showcase the SaaS product's value proposition right from the start. It's an important feature for onboarding, as it can help users overcome that initial hesitation they might feel when confronted with a new software tool.