User engagement is fundamental to a user’s overall experience with any platform, and Salesforce Lightning is no exception. It encompasses the strategies for onboarding, empowering, assisting, and educating users directly within the application. This in-app guidance, often subtle, is a powerful tool that Salesforce provides to help users navigate and utilize the platform more effectively. Now, with the ability to customize these elements, you can leverage your specific organizational knowledge to tailor these components for your users. Before diving into customization, it’s crucial to understand the ‘why’ and ‘when’ of incorporating in-app guidance, or as we’ll explore, how to effectively Implement Lightning Guided Engagement.
Key Scenarios for Lightning Guided Engagement
There are four primary scenarios where implementing lightning guided engagement can significantly improve user interaction and productivity. Let’s illustrate these with a relatable example – visiting a modern art gallery.
Imagine entering the gallery. After the initial formalities, you’re eager to explore but need direction. You naturally seek a gallery guide or map. This guide highlights current exhibitions, the layout of the collection, and perhaps even suggests must-see pieces. This initial orientation mirrors onboarding in the digital world. In the context of implementing lightning guided engagement, this phase is about showing users where to start and drawing attention to new or updated features within Salesforce Lightning, ensuring a smooth initial experience.
As you wander through the gallery, you notice small placards beside some artworks, suggesting an audio tour for deeper insights. This unexpected discovery enhances your visit, offering more context and value. This is akin to feature discovery and adoption in user engagement. Implementing lightning guided engagement for feature discovery means prompting users towards helpful features they might not be aware of. These prompts are most effective when relevant to the user’s current activity within Salesforce Lightning, much like the audio tour suggestion is relevant to viewing the art.
Later, engrossed in the audio tour, you find yourself struggling to see details behind a crowd or wanting to replay a section. Fortunately, the audio device has a quick help card explaining how to manage these situations. This card is analogous to troubleshooting help within an application. When implementing lightning guided engagement for troubleshooting, the aim is to provide readily available assistance for common tasks and issues. This ensures users can quickly overcome obstacles and continue their workflow in Salesforce Lightning with minimal disruption.
Inspired by the audio tour, you decide to join a guided tour of a photography exhibit. The guide’s in-depth knowledge about the artist, influences, and the broader art movement enriches your understanding far beyond the audio tour. This represents deeper learning guidance. Implementing lightning guided engagement for deeper learning involves offering users a structured learning path to gain a more comprehensive understanding. This empowers them to be more productive and innovative within Salesforce Lightning by mastering its functionalities.
In summary, these four scenarios are fundamental to user engagement. Effective implementation of lightning guided engagement requires understanding these contexts.
| Scenario | Description | Examples in Salesforce Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| Onboarding | Guide new users on where to begin and highlight new features or changes. Facilitate quick “aha!” moments. | – First login to Lightning Experience or a new feature area. – Setting up a new feature within Lightning. – Initial experience after a new release. |
| Feature Discovery and Adoption | Help novice users become proficient and assist experienced users in learning new functionalities. Promote awareness of new features and updates. | – Notification of newly enabled features. – Guidance on best practices for using Lightning features. |
| Troubleshooting Help | Offer timely prompts to aid users in learning by doing. Provide access to reliable resources and support. | – Guidance when a user deviates from a typical process. – Quick answers to user questions within the application. |
| Deeper Learning | Equip users with the advanced skills and knowledge needed to maximize the value of Salesforce Lightning. | – Structured guidance for mastering complex features. – In-depth tutorials for advanced functionalities. |
Understanding these scenarios is crucial because different Salesforce components are more effective in certain situations. Let’s explore the components available for implementing lightning guided engagement.
Salesforce Lightning Components and Patterns for Guided Engagement
Now that we’ve addressed the ‘why’ of user engagement, let’s delve into the ‘what’ – the Salesforce components that enable you to deliver your message effectively for each user engagement scenario and implement lightning guided engagement.
Salesforce’s strength lies in its flexibility, offering both declarative (clicks-based) and programmatic (code-based) features. This dual approach extends to implementing lightning guided engagement, providing a range of tools for different needs and technical expertise.
| Component | Description | Programmatic or Declarative? | Best Use for Lightning Guided Engagement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Welcome Mat | Provides initial resources and guidance upon a user’s first login to Lightning Experience. | Programmatic | Ideal for onboarding, offering a curated starting point for new users. |
| Guidance Center | Accessible via the Trailhead icon in the header, it offers a menu of contextual help, Trailhead modules, and other resources. | Declarative | Best for troubleshooting and deeper learning, providing user-initiated access to comprehensive help. |
| Prompts | Floating, targeted, or docked messages to inform users about new features, announcements, or page-specific guidance. | Declarative | Effective for feature discovery and adoption and timely onboarding messages. |
| Popovers | Feature-specific pop-up tips that point to lower-level components on a page, offering focused guidance. | Programmatic | Useful for onboarding and troubleshooting, providing contextual, point-of-interaction assistance. |
| Empty State | Replaces blank sections with instructional content, guiding users on next steps in areas with no data yet. | Programmatic | Excellent for onboarding and feature discovery, guiding users in initially empty areas of Lightning. |
| Field-level Help | Detailed explanations of standard or custom fields, accessible directly within the field context. | Declarative | Primarily for troubleshooting, offering immediate, field-specific information. |
| Setup Assistant | A centralized task list to guide users through onboarding processes for organizations, clouds, or specific features. | Programmatic | Specifically designed for structured onboarding, ensuring comprehensive setup and feature adoption. |
| Walkthrough | Interactive, step-by-step tours that guide users through a series of onboarding or feature adoption steps. | Declarative | Powerful for onboarding and feature discovery, providing hands-on, guided learning experiences. |
To effectively implement lightning guided engagement, it’s crucial to match the right component to the specific user engagement scenario. The following table outlines the optimal components for each scenario:
| Component | Onboarding | Adoption and Discovery | Troubleshooting | Deeper Learning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Welcome mat | ||||
| Guidance Center | ||||
| Prompts | ||||
| Popovers | ||||
| Empty State | ||||
| Field-level Help | ||||
| Walkthrough |
Choosing the right component for implementing lightning guided engagement also involves considering space and format limitations. For instance, field-level help is not suited for lengthy instructions. Another critical consideration is whether to use a push or pull method for your guided engagement strategy.
Push vs. Pull Methods in Lightning Guided Engagement
When implementing lightning guided engagement, deciding between push and pull methods is key to effective user support. The push method is best used when users might not actively seek help but would benefit from proactive assistance. This involves presenting content to users without them explicitly requesting it. Examples include displaying a welcome mat (1) on first login or a prompt when a user lands on the Account homepage. Prompts, popovers, and walkthroughs are typical examples of push-based lightning guided engagement.
Certain push components are subtly integrated into the interface. Empty state messages and field-level help are considered push mechanisms as they are present in the user interface, ready to assist even if not directly requested.
Conversely, the pull method is employed when users are motivated to seek help actively. For example, the infobubble (2) which opens a tooltip upon hovering, exemplifies the pull method. Users intentionally interact to access the guidance.
A comprehensive lightning guided engagement strategy should incorporate both push and pull methods to cater to diverse user needs and behaviors, ensuring robust support across various scenarios.
Expanding Lightning Guided Engagement Options
Beyond the primary components, several additional features and options can further enhance your implementation of lightning guided engagement in Salesforce Lightning:
- Utility Bar Notes: Provide users with instant access to frequently used productivity tools in a persistent footer, with utilities opening in docked panels for seamless access.
- Rich Text Component: Incorporate text and simple HTML markup directly into Lightning pages for more customized and visually engaging in-app communication.
- Guidance for Success on Path: Offer step-specific guidance at each stage of a Path, including tips, links, and relevant company policy information, to guide users through processes effectively.
- Custom Notifications from a Flow: Send tailored notifications triggered by specific events, such as alerting an account owner when a new support case is logged, ensuring timely and relevant updates.
- Einstein Analytics In-Dashboard Videos: Integrate educational videos within Einstein Analytics dashboards to drive feature adoption and user engagement, providing context-specific instruction for dashboard and chart utilization.
Implementing lightning guided engagement in Salesforce Lightning offers a dynamic and versatile approach to enhancing user experience. By understanding the scenarios, leveraging the appropriate components, and strategically employing push and pull methods, you can significantly improve user onboarding, feature adoption, and overall productivity within your Salesforce organization.
