User Interface Improvement by Linden Lab: Browser-Based Tutorials in the Viewer

Linden Lab has launched browser-based tutorials within the Second Life viewer.

The interface-based tutorials were tested against Orientation Island, and Erica Linden called the result of the test a "tie": new users who were directed to Orientation Island (OI) had "as successful" an experience as those who bypassed OI but were given the viewer with the tutorials.

The changes by the Lab suggest a focus on metrics and performance towards incremental improvements in the new user experience. By sending a sub-set of new sign-ups past Orientation Island yet arming them with the new tutorials, they were able to test the success of the interface-based help.

Orientation Island was notoriously difficult to update, and the HUD given to arrivals was often buggy or ineffective. By running the test, the Lab didn't see an improvement in new user stats, but because there was no DIFFERENCE were able to make the decision that browser-based tutorials would be easier to update, would not be hard-coded into the viewer, and the investment in Orientation Island could be shuttered in favor of other areas of attention.

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