A run of coach marks is skipped as a set
Aliases: tour skip · chained coach marks · skip remaining
What it is
When coach marks appear one after another, people quickly see them as one lesson, not as independent sentences. Skip or close on the first in the queue throws the rest away as a set. The product still thinks four steps can teach; the user has already classified the whole run as “that kind of layer.” This is about how a queue is perceived, not about whether a single mark must be skippable — once skip lands on the head of a queue, the effect spreads to the set.
Why it happens
A repeating surface is grouped into a category. If step one’s scrim, spotlight, and button layout are isomorphic with step two, people stop reading content and recognise the category; the decision shifts from “do I need this sentence” to “do I want this kind of layer.” Skip is a response to the category. If the system implements skip as “close only this card,” the next card appears in the same skin at once, the category judgement is confirmed, and the next close is faster. Longer queues categorise earlier: often at the second mark. Multi-step tours also create a progress expectation (“3 / 7”); the progress itself says “a long run remains,” which speeds refusal of the set rather than encouraging completion. Stringing independent explanations into a queue is an invitation for one refusal to cover all of them.
Studying it
Compare a single mark, a three-step isomorphic queue, and a three-step queue with different skins. After skip on the first, see whether later steps are still opened and read. Independent variables: queue length, visual isomorphism across steps, presence of “step n.” Dependent variables: effective reads of later steps, the step at which habitual dismiss starts. In an isomorphic queue, reads after a first skip should be near zero.
Where it stops holding
A multi-step that the user explicitly started (“Start tour”) is a lesson entered on purpose; skipping the set is a fair exit, not collateral damage. An error wizard (two steps to repair a failure) is a task chain, not a teaching queue; leaving mid-way leaves half-finished work and should be handled as a task interrupt. Marks that pop on different pages on different days categorise more weakly if the gap is long, but can still be read as “that layer again,” especially when the skin never changes.
Applying it
- Do not auto-play a queue of coach marks. Show only the one mark that belongs to the current step.
- If multiple steps are required, skip on the first should apply to the set, and say “skip the intro,” rather than pretend later cards still have a chance of being read.
- Drop “n / N” progress that advertises a long queue, unless the user started a tour on purpose.
- How to check: close the first mark and see whether the second appears on its own. If it does, break the queue or make close apply to the set.