In-app pin instead of slideout: 49% to 88% workflow completion
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsZywave replaced a slideout onboarding flow with a small persistent pin that shows a tooltip on hover, and the share of insurance agents completing the carrier-connection workflow rose from 49% to 88%.
Zywave's instructional design team ran the change, and it was published as an Appcues customer story.
The pin went live after the slideout, so this is a before-and-after comparison, not a split test.
- Workflow success rate: 88% with the pin versus 49% with the slideout, as reported by Appcues.
- Completions: the number of agents finishing the workflow nearly doubled in under a week.
- Reach: the pin averaged about 1,700 views a day, which suggests many agents were stuck at this step.
- No sample sizes, significance figures or test dates were shared.
The change
A slideout flow is replaced by a small pin that opens a tooltip on hover.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
A slideout flow appeared to guide insurance agents through connecting their preferred carriers so they could pull quotes. Engagement with the slideout was low.
Variant
A persistent pin (a hotspot) sat next to the carrier-connection feature. Hovering over it opened a tooltip with the same step-by-step guidance.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- A pin waits for the user to ask for help, so it lands at the moment of need instead of interrupting.
- Slideouts are easy to dismiss without reading. Once closed, the help is gone.
- Placing the guidance right beside the feature removes the step of mapping instructions onto the screen.
- The pin stays visible, so agents who return to the step later can still find help.
Caveats: Appcues calls it a test, but the pin replaced the slideout over time, so this reads as a before/after comparison and other changes could have played a part. Vendor-published, with no sample size or dates.
Who ran it
Zywave ran this test and published the results (Appcues customer story). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
Read the original case study on Zywave →
How to run this test on your site
- Hypothesis
- If we replace an interrupting slideout with a persistent hover pin next to a hard setup step, then more users will complete that step because help appears in context when they want it.
- Primary metric
- Completion rate of the targeted setup workflow
- Guardrails
- Support tickets about the step
- Time to complete the workflow
- Engagement with other onboarding flows
- Who should test it
- SaaS products with one known friction step in setup, especially for repeat or expert users. It is less likely to help if users never notice the step at all, since a pin relies on them looking for help.
Questions
What is the difference between a slideout and a pin in onboarding?
A slideout is a panel that slides onto the screen and asks for attention.
A pin is a small marker on the interface that shows help only when the user hovers or clicks.
Are tooltips better than modals for onboarding?
It depends on the step. Contextual tooltips tend to suit specific tasks on a busy screen, while modals can work for a welcome or a big announcement.
Test the format on the step that is losing users.
How should I measure an in-app guidance change?
Track completion of the task the guidance supports, not just views of the guidance.
A split test where some new users see no change gives the clearest answer.