Train and hand-hold; nobody reads instructions.
technique — attributed to Steve Gottlieb
Gottlieb learned long ago that nobody reads instructions. Shindig is designed for self-service, but the company runs regular client trainings and offers white-glove production services. The pattern is operational. Self-service is the destination, not the starting point. Producers new to a platform need training and hand-holding to reach the point where self-service is genuinely possible. Platform companies that refuse to provide the support produce a population of frustrated underusers. Platform companies that provide the support produce a population of confident users who eventually need less of it. The investment in support is upstream of the self-service that scales the business.
For platform companies, software vendors, and tool builders thinking about how to drive adoption. The technique is most useful as a counter-frame against the default toward documentation-only support models.
client-training, white-glove, platform-adoption, support