Built It, Then Make Them Experts

There’s a lot we can learn about best practices for creating and releasing software or web services to the masses from watching the video gaming industry. Successful video game companies know how important it is that they engage and immerse users quickly because they know they aren’t just in the software business, they’re in the fun business, and there’s nothing fun about sucking at a game. Recognizing this, they’ve developed innovative methods for getting complete novices engaged and enjoying the product as quickly as possible. I call this the “zero to fun” metric.

Getting a user from zero to fun as fast as possible isn’t just a gaming industry must. Everyone wants to enjoy the experience of using software and the web, and how much we enjoy the experience is largely a function of how adept we feel as users. Making a user feel like an expert is key to making their experience remarkable, and for that reason, giving a user that feeling quickly should be one of the primary goals of any company releasing software or web services to the world.

Zero To Fun In The Gaming Industry

As video games are becoming increasingly complex, tutorials and training have become a big part of the user’s first experiences within games. Game developers have stopped putting so much effort into the manuals that come with games, because gamers don’t read them. Learning, instead, is part of the initial doing and is being increasingly incorporated into the game itself. Why? Because developers know that forcing gamers to learn how to play as they play kills two birds with one stone – it enhances their overall experience by getting them to play confidently from the get go (being an expert is more fun), and it satisfies the gamers need for instant gratification (playing is more fun than reading manuals). The first levels of most popular video games today are actually just elaborate walkthroughs that acclimate the gamer to the environment and the controls with some light, low-risk game play to keep it fun and boost the user’s confidence.

When the user is done with the initial walkthrough, though, good developers don’t leave the gamer hanging. They know that quick access to the tutorial content and map of the controls is critical for maintaining expertise and confidence. Games usually have access to a functionality dashboard at the touch of a “menu” or “start” button that the user can access quickly mid-game play.  This is a basic example of the PSP version of Spider-Man “Web Of Shadows” game I found on the web, but I think it’s instructive (see below). The second screen shot shows the type of control map guide I’m talking about. It allows the user to pause the game, see (and remember) how to use all the tools at their disposal, and get right back to the action in a matter of seconds. Easy access to training like this reduces frustration, boosts expertise, increases confidence and enjoyment, and gets them re-engaged fast.

Notice that game developers hit users with a multi-pronged training strategy – An initial training walkthrough boosts user awareness of all of the features available and how to use them, and quick access to visual guides during game play reinforce their confidence without interrupting play. This layered training strategy has been honed over years of game releases and it’s become a ubiquitous element of modern video gaming because it WORKS. Just because games are entertainment, we can’t take innovations like this for granted.  To a certain extent, every software company is in the fun business. Our emotional needs when it comes to usability are exactly the same if we are playing Spiderman on a PSP or using any software. We all have a much better time when we feel like we’re experts who are in control.

The Cardinal Sin: Not Training Your Users

Too often companies commit the sin of focusing too much on marketing and recruiting, and forget to spend time and energy educating their users once they’re there. If you’re active on multiple social media services, you should know how badly most web services fail at training. Once most companies have got you signed up and logged in, they leave you in a void to figure out how to use what they built with a few screen shots, an FAQ and maybe a tough-to-find-or-navigate text guide for some key features (if you’re lucky). This neglect results in getting one more user who will likely explore a little, get frustrated (and disenchanted) and then either leave, or show low/no activity. And is that their fault? Probably not.

Attention is too valuable these days to spend time learning a new UI or even to just become “aware” of all of the features. I give a lot of feedback on stuff I use these days and it shocks me how many developers at startups I talk to seem to assume every new user will be so psyched to sign up that they’ll review and try every new feature the right way, the first time, love it and recruit 10 of their friends. How arrogant and short sighted. Awareness of features and learning the UI and tools shouldn’t be the user’s burden alone. Companies need to do EVERYTHING they can to meet them half way to get them up to speed and aware of all the amazing things their product does as quickly and as easily as possible. Getting them from zero to expert fast makes their experience fun, and fun is the name of the game.

Apple Does User Education The Right Way

I want to share an example from a company that’s doing a bang up job of making their users experts – Apple. Surprised? I’m a huge fan of Arpeture2 and my experience with the software has been amazing because of the time and care that Apple has put into the extensive suite of video tutorials that are available for the software.  Arpeture2 is a pretty complicated program and I’m just a photography hobbyist – but it took me less than a few days to become a confident, proficient user of the software. And you know how much it cost me in “tutorial manuals and courses” – ZIP…and my satisfaction with the product is off the charts.

Apple has shown that you can create an online repository of  short, engaging 2-5 minute video clips for each feature of the software and point to it with a link straight from the application’s interface (which is key). If I’m playing with the software and wonder “What does this button do?” There’s a learn link right there…Click the link…watch a 2 minute video…expert. I feel in control, my frustration is minimized and I’m back to my creating. Not only that, but when I get to the product tutorial page (see below), I can see a list of all the main features of Arpeture2 which is a huge awareness boost – not only do I know more about what the application can do at a glance, I know exactly where to go to learn how to use it. Apple creates learning experiences like this for all their products, available for free on their website at the individual product page (people even get to see how easy the software is to use and all the things it can do before they buy – it’s great marketing!)

Some Final Thoughts On Why You Should Make Your Users Experts and Some Best Practices To Follow:

A bulleted list, because you’ve read enough already ;-)

• People Have More Fun When They Are Experts – Making a new customer’s experience with software great is about reducing the time it takes to get them from knowing nothing to a level of proficiency where they are enjoying using it. I call this the zero to fun metric. Minimize that time to win.
• Quick Access To Specific Training Materials Keeps Users Engaged – Video games do it with start button menu guides and Apple has shown you can do it with quick “on the fly” video clip training to the web very well to enhance customer value. The goal is to reduce the frustration users have when they don’t know how to use a specific feature. A link in the UI to a 2 minute tutorial for that feature can boost confidence and enjoyment and get a user back to enjoying “play” quickly.
• Easy-To-Access Training Reduces The Cost of Customer Service – You’d be surprised how fewer calls and emails your team gets from frustrated users if you give them a great place to learn (and review) how the product works. The customer has a better experience with the product and your team gets to spend less time (and money) responding to cries for help.
• Training Unlocks Creativity – When you show people how to use a tool, they inevitably think about how they could use it. Use the training to show users a wide variety of different ways they could use something and get their creative juices flowing. It’ll increase their desire to use your product.
• Scannable Tutorial Repositories Boost Awareness of Product Features – Most new users won’t take the time to explore every feature in an application or service, which is sad because it creates a lose-lose situation where users aren’t aware of possibilities and developers are creating things people don’t use. It’s the company’s job to meet users half way by making them aware of all of features as well as offering them easy ways to quickly learn to use them.
• Experts Are Passionate Evangelists – The people most likely to be talking about your product are the people who feel they are experts. Giving people access to cheap/free tutorial content not only creates incredible value for users, it gets them actively using and enjoying the feautres more. The more they enjoy and use, the more likely they are to tell others about their positive experience.
• Creating Video Tutorials Is Cheap And Easy – Last time I checked, YouTube was free and Cameras have never been cheaper. Some video hosting services will even pay you by the number of views a video gets. It’s not hard to create 20-30 videos, post them to a YouTube or Vimeo or Blip.tv and then create a “Tutorials” web page with text links to all of them. Think about it.
• Videos Double As Advertising – This is especially true if you’re using video hosting sites that I mentioned above and the videos are compelling and show features and tools that no other software can accomplish. People will find these videos on other sites, embed them on their own blogs, share them with friends, comment on them, mash them up and even create their own. Win Win for you. Your company doesn’t have to be the first point of contact.