- Digital adoption platforms at a glance
- Digital adoption and in-app guidance tools
- How to roll out in-app guidance
- Accessibility applies to your guidance too
- Employees or customers?
- Where in-app guidance helps most
- Writing guidance people don't skip
- My advice on choosing a digital adoption platform
- Frequently asked questions
The best digital adoption platform depends on who you're teaching. Teams rolling out internal systems to employees need guidance across several business apps, while software companies onboarding customers need product tours and checklists inside their own product. Start with one high-traffic process and prove it works before you roll guidance out everywhere.
A digital adoption platform sits on top of software and shows people what to do, right where they're doing it. Instead of a two-hour training session that everyone forgets, staff or customers get a short walkthrough, a tooltip or a checklist at the moment they need it.
The tools here range from enterprise platforms for internal systems to lighter tools for product onboarding. If you'd rather people look answers up themselves, see my guide to knowledge base software, and for rolling out big business systems, my ERP training best practices.
Digital adoption platforms at a glance
Here's what each tool is, what it's good for and whether its own site names a free plan, a trial or neither. The list is alphabetical and in no particular order.
| Tool | Type | Good for | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appcues | Product engagement | Onboarding customers in your app | No |
| Apty | Enterprise adoption | Rolling out business systems | No |
| Lemon Learning | Employee adoption | Training staff on business apps | No |
| Pendo | Analytics and guides | Guidance driven by usage data | Trial only |
| UserGuiding | No-code onboarding | Small SaaS teams | Trial only |
| Userlane | Regulated adoption | Banks, insurers and healthcare | No |
| Usetiful | Product tours | Lightweight guidance | No |
| WalkMe | Enterprise DAP | Large-scale employee software rollouts | No |
| Whatfix | AI adoption | Guidance for staff and customers | Trial only |
Digital adoption and in-app guidance tools
Appcues
Best for: Software companies wanting product tours, checklists and in-app messages for new customers, built by product teams without code.
Apty
Best for: IT and transformation teams rolling out systems like ERP or CRM who want step-by-step guidance and process checks inside them.
Lemon Learning
Best for: Companies training employees on business apps such as CRM and HR systems who want guided tours instead of classroom sessions.
Pendo
Best for: Product teams who want to see where users get stuck and then fix it with in-app guides in the same platform.
UserGuiding
Best for: Smaller software companies who want onboarding flows, checklists and announcements set up quickly, without developer time.
Userlane
Best for: Organisations in regulated sectors who want in-app guidance on internal software from a platform built for regulated industries.
Usetiful
Best for: Teams who want simple product tours, smart tips and onboarding checklists added to a web app their customers already use.
WalkMe
Best for: Big organisations running many internal applications who want one adoption layer across all of them, with usage analytics.
Whatfix
Best for: Companies wanting in-app guidance for both employee systems and customer-facing products, managed from one adoption platform.
How to roll out in-app guidance
- Pick one process people get wrong often, such as submitting expenses or setting up a first project.
- Watch a few real users try it and note exactly where they hesitate or give up.
- Build a short walkthrough for those moments only, not a tour of every button.
- Measure completion before and after, so you know the guidance helped.
- Expand to the next process only when the first one shows results.
Accessibility applies to your guidance too
The GOV.UK Service Manual says digital services must meet level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 as a minimum and work on the most commonly used assistive technologies. That's the bar for government services, and it's a sensible one for any business software.
Walkthroughs, pop-ups and tooltips are part of your interface, so they can create new barriers. Test them with a keyboard and a screen reader before rollout, make sure people can dismiss them, and check they don't cover the very button you're asking someone to press.
Employees or customers?
Employee adoption is about getting people through business processes in systems you didn't build, like HR, finance or CRM tools. You'll want guidance that works across several apps and analytics that show where staff struggle.
Want AI doing the heavy lifting in your marketing?
I build the systems that handle the boring 80 percent, so you get your week back. Done properly, with the human kept in.
Customer adoption is about getting new users to their first success inside your own product. You'll want product tours, checklists, announcements and segmenting, so different customers see different guidance.
Where in-app guidance helps most
- New starters learning several business systems in their first week.
- A major software update that moves familiar features.
- Processes people do rarely, such as annual reviews or year-end tasks.
- Customer onboarding in a product with many settings.
- Compliance steps that must be done the same way every time.
Rarely used processes are the hidden win. Nobody remembers how to do something they last did a year ago, and a short walkthrough saves a support call every time.
Writing guidance people don't skip
Write each step as an instruction with a reason, in as few words as possible: 'Add your bank details here so we can pay your expenses.' People click through anything that looks like a lecture, but they'll follow a short step that explains why it matters.
Show guidance at the moment it's needed, not on first login. A tip that appears when someone opens the expenses screen is far more useful than a tour that tries to explain the whole system on day one.
Retire guidance as well as adding it. Once most people complete a process without help, switch the walkthrough off or move it to a help menu, so experienced users aren't interrupted by tips they no longer need.
Do you make a digital adoption platform? Tool makers can ask to be considered for a featured place on this list.
My advice on choosing a digital adoption platform
Run a pilot on one process with a clear before-and-after measure. If you can't show that guidance reduced errors, support tickets or time to complete, a wider rollout is a leap of faith.
Keep guidance short. People skip long tours, so three helpful steps at the right moment will beat a twelve-step introduction every time.
Frequently asked questions
What is a digital adoption platform?
It's software that adds in-app guidance, such as walkthroughs, tooltips and checklists, on top of other software so people learn it while they use it.
Who uses digital adoption platforms?
HR, IT and learning teams use them for internal systems, and product teams use them to onboard customers inside their own software.
Do I need developers to set one up?
Many tools let non-technical teams build guidance with a browser extension or editor, though an initial install snippet is often needed.
Do in-app guides need to be accessible?
Yes. The GOV.UK Service Manual sets WCAG 2.2 AA as the minimum for digital services, and guides are part of the interface.
How do I know if guidance is working?
Compare completion rates, errors or support tickets for a process before and after you add guidance.
