Show HN: I built an alternative to product tours

Show HN: I built an alternative to product tours(vykee.co)

69 points by giaco_hendel 2 years ago | 36 comments

Hey HN! We’ve built a tool that dynamically adjusts the complexity of software interfaces based on a user's interaction with it.

It works by hiding non-essential/advanced UI elements for new users, reducing cognitive load and guiding them to their "aha moment" more efficiently. We refer to this as „simple mode“.

Non-essential features are progressively revealed when the user is ready to use them, and we’ve also added an option for users to manually switch „simple mode“ off.

Every Feature in vykee consists of Elements. Elements can be selected via UI picker or via code by adding the vykee attribute.

Our analytics tool allows you to easily measure the usage of Features and Elements over time. You can identify the ones that are (a) not used or (b) used a few times in the beginning but not again. Those non-essential Features can be hidden by applying conditions for revealing them.

As we’re still very early, I’d love to get your feedback on the tool and thoughts re simplifying complex software more broadly.

graiz 2 years ago |

This concept has a well-known name that you don't seem to use in your design or marketing called "Progressive Disclosure." It was coined back in 2006 to explain this concept.

I do think it's tricky to do this as a 3rd party website. Most sites would want the disclosure logic to live inside their product, as coded logic. I do like the concept and how you've built this.

giaco_hendel 2 years ago | |

I was thinking about that but decided not to because I think a lot of people don't know what progressive disclosure is. Will think about it though, thanks!

Lightbody 2 years ago |

As a founder of an increasingly complex SaaS service (https://reclaim.ai) I love the mission. I'll be checking it out. Good luck!

trentnix 2 years ago | |

More than a couple of folks in the startup I work in are using your product. Kudos!

darrenwestall 2 years ago |

Just what I need for my SaaS. I've filled in the form - only thing I'd love is a way to display a message to a user about what's been unlocked.

Like "Congratulations, you've added your first page. Now you can filter"

bnorton 2 years ago | |

yes and now it looks like you need a product tour

castalian 2 years ago |

You must explicitly state that what they are seeing is a simplified version, or present a choice. I am the kind of user who would leave if the interface seems too simple (lacking abundance of features to explore)

giaco_hendel 2 years ago | |

The tool already does this! https://share.cleanshot.com/JmkgmflH

bnorton 2 years ago |

How you do you solve for, or imagine solving for the hiding of potentially important UI without running to risk users not finding what they are looking for and not realizing it is "just hidden". Without having to first know that they are missing something, how will they know? Is there a partial-hide?

giaco_hendel 2 years ago | |

there's a little toggle at the bottom (simple mode on/off) where the user can toggle on all elements and see what's hidden. It also informs them about what they're seeing is a simplified version.

baron816 2 years ago |

I had this exact idea while working on the growth team at Evernote, but couldn’t get anyone to buy into actually doing it. Good to see someone actually doing it.

projektfu 2 years ago |

My thoughts as a SaaS user/purchaser:

Can I opt out quickly so I can see how the difficult things work?

Will I get this flow every time I change computers, delete cookies, etc?

How much will it bloat the experience once I'm an expert? These things always have telemetry ... will it still be collecting telemetry forever?

As someone who buys line-of-business software, I know these concerns are rarely considered by the SaaS developer, but they are important.

Unrelated : Why does every product page do the fading in thing? When I return to your site to see things I scroll down to a bunch of blank stuff waiting for your animations to catch up. Is this how you prefer the rest of the web?

giaco_hendel 2 years ago | |

Can I opt out quickly so I can see how the difficult things work? -> Yes, you can just turn off "Simple Mode": https://share.cleanshot.com/JmkgmflH

Will I get this flow every time I change computers, delete cookies, etc? -> No, settings are saved per user in the database. So it is synched across all devices and you won't have that problem.

How much will it bloat the experience once I'm an expert? -> Depends on the SaaS but ideally once you're an expert you just see all available features (as you normally would).

projektfu 2 years ago | | |

Thanks for the answers!

I like the options of muting or turning off simple mode, good job.

Fwiw, I have used products where the tour comes up every time you change to a new machine/browser. I assume this is because it's only loosely integrated to the application and doesn't know about users. Good on you to put the setting where it belongs.

pests 2 years ago | |

Have you turned on your operating systems "reduce motion" accessibility settings? Almost all CSs frameworks and many authors respect this setting and will disable / tone down all animations. It's handled as a media query.

gabigrin 2 years ago |

Very cool idea. I have implemented such "dumbing down" manually a couple of times - can confirm the pain is real.

Have to admit that the difference between the "before" and "after" UI in the video doesn't feel big enough. Did you consider removing also the "Projects" list on the left? Or reducing it?

giaco_hendel 2 years ago | |

Thanks for the feedback! Yes, there's a tradeoff between making it simple and hiding too much. The counterargument is always "what if the user is searching for a specific feature, can't find it, then leaves?". So this needs to be considered. Here's another example: https://giacos.notion.site/Feature-richness-vs-Simplicity-8c...

But good point, we might change that.

bnorton 2 years ago | | |

i can only see the screenshot for "Example 1"

jemmyw 2 years ago |

The picker looks cool. I like the idea. I know that we actually do something similar already at work as well as having a tour. I can't see myself using this if I were a startup software product, it's just too easy and contextual to build and analytics are already an essential.

giaco_hendel 2 years ago | |

If you're a developer who also does UX/UI Design and Product Management yes. But often times those roles are separate and PMs are the ones responsible for improving the onboarding flow. For them, it makes sense to have an easy to use tool.

As for the analytics tool: Yes, ours is pretty basic and straightforward – super easy setup and gives you the most important information though.

gervwyk 2 years ago |

Maybe I should use this for our docs pages :)

dewey 2 years ago |

So is this a real "Show HN" product or just a landing page (Which isn't allowed for a Show HN)?

giaco_hendel 2 years ago | |

you can use it here: https://app.vykee.co/sign-up :)

Share6323 2 years ago |

How can I integrate this in my web app as a developer?

giaco_hendel 2 years ago | |

You simply put a script in the head tag, that's it. :)

dreadlordbone 2 years ago |

I don't see any pricing info anywhere?

giaco_hendel 2 years ago | |

We don't have that yet. You can sign up on the page if you want to try/use it.

ibbih 2 years ago |

The "try now" button leading to a form and no way to actually experience what you're selling didn't feel great

ryanwhitney 2 years ago | |

+1, i hit “back” as soon as i saw an email input.

scosman 2 years ago | | |

10x more so for product tour product.

jacurtis 2 years ago | | |

+2 I thought it was part of the experience, so I put in a bunch of fake information. Then got to the end and it said "we will contact you later". Lol, nope you won't.

It's a very confusing Call to Action.

giaco_hendel 2 years ago | |

fixed it, you can use it here: https://app.vykee.co/sign-up