First Impressions: How To Introduce Your Product to The World

Some products and services require more than just a great intro to land users. In the case of services — especially for those offering free trials — supplementary training tutorials and/or demos are key to user retention.

A clear and succinct written tutorial accompanied by LOTS of corresponding images is a great option, because users can easily go at their own pace. And short video demos are perfect for the more visual learner.

Tips for creating effective tutorials:

• Keep it simple; avoid technical terms and jargon
• Take care in the planning phase: create an outline of what your tutorial will contain and how it will be structured
• Go through each step of the process as if you were doing it for the first time
• Whether you are creating a step-by-step video or writing a how-to article, always start by giving an introduction
• Test it out on people who’ve never used your service and get their feedback

Here are a few links to some well composed tutorials. Note how, in some cases, the writer has included a list of what they’ll need to complete the tutorial, as well as an estimate of time to completion. This is a simple but excellent way to help users prepare themselves to get their learn on(!)