# Hotspot vs tooltip for a new feature: +26% feature use

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Onboarding (SaaS)
- Elements: In app guidance, Tooltip
- Test run by: [Hotjar](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/hotjar/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://www.appcues.com/customer-stories/how-hotjar-a-b-tested-subtle-in-app-callouts-to-drive-greater-feature-adoption
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/gap-hotjar-hotspot-vs-tooltip-feature-adoption/

Hotjar announced a new feature with a subtle hotspot instead of a tooltip and feature use rose from 6.5% to 8.16%, a 26% lift. Hotjar ran the A/B test, and it was published as an Appcues customer story. Users who saw the hotspot were also more likely to highlight recordings.

## Result

**+26% feature use**

- Use of the relevance selector: 6.5% with the tooltip vs 8.16% with the hotspot, a 26% relative lift.
- Users highlighting part of a recording, a secondary metric: +99% with the hotspot.
- Sample size, test length and statistical confidence are not shared.

## Control

A tooltip announced the new recording relevance selector to a random half of users.

## Variant

A hotspot, a small pulsing beacon, carried the same copy and was shown to the other half.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- A hotspot invites users to click when they're ready, so it may feel less like an interruption than a tooltip.
- Choosing to open the message may make users pay more attention to it.
- More use of the relevance selector likely surfaced more useful recordings, which would explain more highlights.

## Caveats

Published by Appcues, the tool vendor used for the test. Sample size, duration and confidence are not shared.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we announce a new feature with a hotspot instead of a tooltip, then more users will try it because the prompt feels optional and less disruptive.
- Primary metric: Share of exposed users who use the new feature
- Guardrail: Repeat use of the feature after first try
- Guardrail: Dismiss rate of in-app messages
- Guardrail: Engagement with the core workflow
- Who should test it: SaaS products launching features inside an existing screen. If the feature is critical to setup, a more direct prompt may still work better.

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Credit: Hotjar ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/gap-hotjar-hotspot-vs-tooltip-feature-adoption/).
Usage: Free to use, quote and build on, with credit and a link: name the practitioner or organization that ran the test and link to its LiftArchive page. The results belong to the practitioners who ran and shared them; the summaries and commentary are LiftArchive's.