--- sourceDocument: Australia ServiceNow AI Platform user interface sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/platform-user-interface Release : - australia ft:locale : - en-US ft:publication_title : - Australia ServiceNow AI Platform user interface ft:clusterId : - platux bundleId : - platux workflow : - Platform --- # Plan Guided Tours # Plan Guided Tours {#ariaid-title1} Release version: Australia Updated November 5, 2026 ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 3 minutes to read Summarize ![AI sparkle icon](https://servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ai-sparkle-icon) Summarized using AI This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete. ## Summary of Plan Guided Tours Planning guided tours within ServiceNow is crucial to ensure an effective and user-friendly experience. Guided tours can be designed to either describe user interfaces or assist users in completing specific tasks. Proper planning involves outlining the tour's purpose, accessibility, naming, user knowledge level, and navigation flow to meet your organizational needs. Show full answer Show less ## Planning a Guided Tour * **Purpose:** Define whether the tour is instructional for UI exploration or task completion. Break down the main goal into clear steps. * **Accessibility:** Decide if the tour should be enabled in production for real task assistance or in non-production environments for training without creating real records. * **Name:** Use unique, intuitive names reflecting the tour's goal (e.g., "Create a New Incident"). Customize instructions to avoid duplicate record creation by prompting users to enter unique values. * **User Knowledge:** Assess the knowledge level of your audience to tailor content that is understandable from the start. * **Additional Considerations:** Choose the starting page, identify essential steps, and determine navigation methods between steps. ## Using Triggers and Callouts * **Triggers:** Each step in the tour advances based on defined triggers linked to specific UI elements. Only relevant triggers appear, ensuring smooth progression. * **Callouts:** Callouts must be correctly placed on UI elements (highlighted in blue) to guide users effectively. For example, placing a callout precisely over the context menu icon rather than the header bar is necessary. * **Tips for Callouts:** * For forms with tabs, include a callout to prompt users to open the necessary tab before continuing. * Minimize callouts on fields with dynamic content to avoid tour interruptions from delayed page refreshes. * For pop-up windows, place callouts on the originating page near the pop-up icon and guide users through the pop-up steps within the callout instructions. * Callout colors are static in the standard UI but customizable on Service Portal to maintain consistent styling. ## Auto-Launching Tours Enable auto-launch to start a guided tour automatically when a user visits a page for the first time. You can configure multiple tours to auto-launch in a specific sequence across subsequent page visits. This feature allows you to introduce users gradually, starting with introductory tours and progressing to more complex or targeted ones. Planning is essential before entering a guided tour into the system. Create an outline and include any assumptions to assist you during the tour creation. ## Planning a guided tour {#plan-a-guided-tour__section_ld3_d2s_wfc} Before outlining a guided tour, consider these factors: Purpose of the tour : Decide whether to create a tour that describes a user interface or one that helps users complete a task. Conduct research and break down the main goal into clear, manageable steps. Accessibility of the tour : Enable the tour on your production system to help users perform routine tasks like ordering from the Service Catalog or creating incidents. If your aim is to train users to explore these tasks without creating real records, provide the tour on your non-production system. Name of the tour : Choose a unique, intuitive tour name that clearly indicates its purpose, like "Create a New Incident" or "Review the Incident List". Customize the instructions so that each user creates a unique record. For instance, if the tour instructs users on how to create a group called "Facilities," you can avoid duplicate name errors for subsequent users by prompting them in a callout to assign a unique value to the group name field. User's knowledge about the task : Not all users who take the tour have the same knowledge level. Evaluate the information needed to make sure that participants comprehend the content from the start. When planning your tour, consider addressing the following additional questions: * What page should the tour start on? * What steps are important to accomplish the objective? * How should a user navigate from one step to the next? {#plan-a-guided-tour__ul_qvy_yzd_ydb} ## Selecting triggers {#plan-a-guided-tour__section_swd_kct_wfc} Triggers are actions that you take to move the tour to the next step. Each callout in a guided tour step has a specific trigger that activates the subsequent step. You define the trigger for each callout, and only relevant triggers appear based on the UI element referenced by the callout. For more information, see [GTD triggers](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/BSbDc0pNrrlYoGJOVmrWYg "Triggers are actions that you take to move the tour to the next step. Each callout in a guided tour step has a specific trigger that activates the subsequent step. You define the trigger for each callout, and only relevant triggers appear based on the UI element referenced by the callout."). ## Using callouts {#plan-a-guided-tour__section_q1t_mct_wfc} You must place a callout on top of an element to interact with it. The element is highlighted in blue when it's selected as the target. In the following example, it looks like the callout is pointing to the context menu icon, but notice that the header bar is highlighted blue. Figure 1. Incorrect callout placement for the context menu This example depicts the correct placement of the callout for the context menu. Notice that the context menu icon is highlighted blue. Figure 2. Correct callout placement for the context menu The following tips may also be helpful: * When you place a callout on a form that contains tabs, consider that a user may not have the tab open for viewing. Create a new callout that instructs the user to first open the tab before proceeding with the rest of the tour. * When adding callouts to fields with dynamic content, keep them minimal. If users can't locate the associated tour element due to a delayed page refresh, the tour may end unexpectedly. * When you guide a user through pop-up windows, add your callout to the originating page on or near the pop-up icon. Within the callout instructions, guide your user through the steps intended for the pop-up window, because callouts can't be added to the pop-up window. * While the color of a callout is static in the Standard platform UI, you can customize callouts on Service Portal. Consider using this capability to make sure that a consistent look-and-feel between your callouts and your Service Portal pages. {#plan-a-guided-tour__ul_arv_21f_ydb} ## Auto-launching your tour {#plan-a-guided-tour__section_c5m_dtg_b2b} Automatically start a tour if you want users to take the tour on their first visit to the page. You can choose to launch multiple tours automatically from a single starting page. You can set the auto-launch order so that users start the second tour on their second page visit, the third tour on their third page visit, and so on. Use this option if you want to begin with an introductory tour and then add more complex or focused follow-up tours.