Why do most developers hate to create how-tos of their product?
Autobuild your Knowledge Base with interactive demos & step-by-step Interactive guides
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Team 20Paths
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Autobuild your Knowledge Base with interactive demos & step-by-step Interactive guides
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Published
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March 23, 2023
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Why-do-most-developers-hate-to-create-how-tos-of-their-product-
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How many times have you found how-to guides for a saas product that look like an afterthought, don't match the current version or are plain boring?
It’s amazing how devs and product managers want the world to appreciate their efforts but fail to do the explaining part. This includes the onboarding process and contextual & current guides and demos.
Why no demos or guides?
Time Constraints
Developers feel that writing a how-to guide takes up valuable time that could be spent on other tasks, such as developing new features or fixing bugs.
Technical Jargon
Developers find it challenging to explain technical concepts in a way that is understandable to non-technical users. This can lead to frustration and discouragement.
Lack of Writing Skills
Developers find it difficult to put their thoughts into words, or they don’t have the necessary writing skills to create effective how-to guides.
Constantly Changing Products
Developers know that creating how-to guides for a product that is constantly evolving is a waste of time. The knowledge that the guides might quickly become outdated and will need to be rewritten frequently is a huge damper.
Preference for Coding
Developers simply prefer coding over writing documentation. They may find it more enjoyable and rewarding to write code than to make a how-to guide or a demo about it and it’s better for the resume also.
Why good guides & demos are needed?
Improved User Experience
Good guides and demos will reduce frustration and confusion and increase user satisfaction.
Reduced Support Requests
When users have access to helpful guides and demos, they are less likely to need assistance from customer support teams.
Increased Product Adoption
If users can quickly and easily learn how to use a product, they are more likely to adopt it and continue using it over time. This can help to increase the product's success and drive revenue growth for the company.
Positive Retention
The quicker the user reaches the “Aha” moment with the product the more likely Providing high-quality guides and demos can help to build a positive reputation for the company and its products. This can lead to increased customer loyalty and positive word-of-mouth referrals.
What’s the solution?
In this era of TikTok, shorts, and stories when users are consuming most of their content in short form, it’s natural that their eyes glance over when confronted with a static wall of text to understand how a product works and thus the guides & demos need to be interactive, autoplay, in context, short and to the point.
Hand it over to someone else.
A dedicated resource or hire consultants.
Do it once half-hearted and leave it.
Do it once and then leave it to tail way behind the
Use tools like 20paths
Bridge the gap between what a product is supposed to do and what the user understands by enabling you to create and recreate step-by-step interactive guides and interactive demos with zero effort. These guides and demos are both informative and easy to understand, using plain language and avoiding technical jargon to show a clear and straightforward path.
They consist of screenshots with related parts highlighted and annotated and are available in multiple formats that users can pick and use at their own pace. Interactive, autoplay, and read formats provide an engaging way for users to experience your product.
The step-by-step interactive guides and interactive demos created with 20paths excel in all these areas. They are quick to make, quick to consume, and fun to interact with.
