User onboarding
Adobe Illustrator’s welcome modal is a great holistic view
Adobe Illustrator’s What’s new modal lists five updates in a side menu, so users can step through every new feature without leaving one window.
At the time of the screenshot, Adobe Illustrator greeted users with a welcome modal titled "What’s new", laid over its home screen. A menu on the left lists five updates: Click to Intertwine, Add More 3D Lighting, Render 3D Objects as Wireframes, Color Mode and Gradient Memory, and Improved Pan, Zoom, and Scroll. Each one gets a large illustration, a two-line description and a Learn more button on the right, and a Next button moves through the list. There’s no progress bar and no separate screens: the whole tour happens inside one window.
Why it works
- One window for every update: the side menu shows all five updates at once, so users know how long the tour is without a progress bar and can jump to the one they care about.
- Short copy: each update is a title and a sentence or two, short enough that people actually read it.
- Visuals that explain: the illustration above each description shows the feature at work (here, two bands woven through a ring), which helps visual learners and keeps the tone light.
More on this pattern: UI modals and new feature onboarding.
