Contents

Overview

First-Item Help applies best to use cases where the user is faced with a new page or in the use case where a feature is infrequently used. It also applies in optional use cases where the user is presented with an empty page. As soon as the page is populated, First-Item Help disappears from the page. In this sense it differs from Inline Text UA method, which persists. If your users are already familiar with the cloud service but may need to learn more detailed information about a task or feature, use one or more of the Everyday User Assistance patterns.

Elements and Appearance

A First-Item pattern appears on an empty page or section of a page in the place where an item will appear if the user chooses to create it. This pattern can have some combination of the following elements, which are arranged horizontally or vertically on the page:

Following is an example First-Item Help pattern presented in a vertical orientation.

an initial page that notifies users that they must create a page, provides a little contextual, introductory sentence, and offers a link to view a tutorial, followed by two buttons to click in order to create an object.

The following image shows a First-Item Help pattern in a horizontal orientation.

A page that requires only a few entries in order to get the user started can include the First-item UA Text in one area, and one or two form fields and a 'create' button for the user to engage.

Additional Resources

Demos: