Case study — In-product tutorials
They had the scanner. They didn't know it.
Northbeam · Reconstruction · Fictional brand
200%
Scan-action adoption over six months
An interruptive App Sync tutorial after login. Short movie plus cards. Close and Got It to leave.
The Challenge
Associates could scan product barcodes, QR codes, and location barcodes from the issued device. Store operations knew that. Associates often did not. The gap was communication between operations and the floor, not missing hardware.
Without scan they signed into extra apps for item details, on-hand quantity, aisle and bay, and labels. App Sync was supposed to put those tools earlier in the work. Unaware associates never used the shortcut.
The Approach
I wrote the short movie script and the Feature Tutorial cards, including role branches and Next / Got It / close.
Killed: comms-only (email, huddle, poster). Operations already had the message. Associates still were not scanning.
Shipped: interrupt after login — short movie plus cards — close allowed, role-specific, plus a library under Help & Tutorial → Feature Tutorials.
Copy in the flow:
- Post-login: if the associate has not seen the Scan highlight, show Scan Barcode To Get Started, then the role card.
- Corporate gets Swipe Left To Shadow Store. Supervisors and managers get Swipe Left For Store Sales.
- Scan Barcode To Get Started — Instantly access the product-related information you need most: Item Details · Products On Hand · Aisle and Bay Location · Label Printing.
- Next on card 1 of 2. Got It on the last card.
- Acknowledgment is Got It, not OK — the same button standard as the content system.
The Result
Over six months after the tutorial shipped, associate use of the scan action on the issued device reached 200% adoption.
Tutorial completion was treated as given: the lesson was short and showed how to use the feature.