Do you hate onboarding instructions? I do. With all my heart. skip skip skip just let me try it dammit, I’ll figure it out!. But when it comes to creating my own products, I fear people may get stuck. To this day I receive a couple of emails per month telling me the Bézier Game doesn’t work, despite having animated instructions (which could be improved, but anyways).
I came to this challenge again. I’d say the interface is self-explanatory, but there are some features which are not obvious and need to be pointed out. I was reminded of my time as an airbnb host: you either drop off the keys and wish them good luck, or you provide a full tour of the house, but you can’t just show them the quirks of the washing machine and leave them to their own devices.
This particular washing machine had a peculiarity where some people got stuck: the door needed to be opened by pushing instead of pulling. At first I’d mention it in passing, but when I got contacted by whatsapp I noticed people weren’t paying attention. And I can relate, after arriving from a long trip I’d be thinking about the bed and not the washing machine. So I devised a way in which they would remember: I’d point out the quirk and then ask someone to actually open it.
I’m trying to translate this concept to the onboarding, where you can interrupt the animation by simply interacting with the interface, no need to skip: you skip by doing what you’re supposed to do.