How to Make Onboarding Guides for SaaS Products
// tl;dr
- — Record your SaaS product's core workflows once — Procshot generates annotated onboarding guides automatically.
- — Ideal for customer success teams, product managers, and support teams who need to scale user education.
- — Export as Markdown or HTML (PDF with Pro) and distribute through your existing help center or onboarding sequence.
// why this matters
New user activation is one of the most important metrics in SaaS — and poor onboarding documentation is a consistent failure point. Users who can't understand the product in their first session churn before reaching the value moment. The problem for customer success and product teams is that creating good onboarding guides takes time: writing step-by-step instructions, coordinating screenshot captures, assembling formatted documents. When the product changes, those guides go stale. Auto-recording documentation tools change the economics: a customer success manager can record the exact workflow that turns new users into activated users, get an annotated guide instantly, and re-record it when the product UI changes. The bottleneck shifts from 'creating documentation' to 'deciding what to document' — which is the right problem to focus on.
Step-by-Step Guide
- 1
Identify the core activation workflow to document
Decide which workflow produces the 'aha moment' for new users — the first time they see the core value of your product. This is usually the workflow that correlates with long-term retention. Document this first. Common examples: creating a first project, inviting a teammate, completing a key configuration.
tip: If you're not sure which workflow to document first, look at where users drop off in your onboarding analytics. The step with the highest dropout is often the one that needs documentation most.
- 2
Install Procshot and navigate to the starting state
Install Procshot (free Chrome extension, no account required). Open the SaaS product you're documenting and navigate to the exact starting state a new user would see after signing up — typically the empty dashboard or the new user landing state.
- 3
Open Procshot and plan the guide name
Open the Procshot popup. After recording, name the guide clearly in the guide editor — 'Getting Started: Create Your First Project' or 'Onboarding: Connect Your First Integration'. Descriptive names matter when managing a library of guides for different user segments.
- 4
Start Recording and complete the activation workflow
Click Start Recording and perform the exact workflow you want new users to follow. Click every button, fill every field with realistic example data (not placeholder text like 'asdf'), and navigate every page. Use the same data a real user would enter — it makes the guide immediately relatable.
tip: Use realistic example data in form fields — 'My First Campaign' reads better than 'test123' in the final guide.
- 5
Stop Recording at the success state
Stop recording when you've reached the outcome — the first project created, the integration connected, the team invited. End on the confirmation or success screen. This is the 'aha moment' screenshot that should be the final frame of the guide.
- 6
Edit step descriptions for new user context
Review each auto-generated step description. New users need more context than power users — add 'why' sentences to steps that might not be obvious. 'Click Invite Team Member to give colleagues access to this workspace' is better than 'Click Invite Team Member' for someone seeing the interface for the first time.
- 7
Annotate screenshots to guide attention (Pro)
With Pro, use Procshot's annotation tools to add arrows or boxes highlighting the key element in each screenshot. For complex interfaces with many buttons, annotations help new users locate the right element quickly. Add text labels for any steps where the interface element's visual prominence doesn't match its importance.
- 8
Export and integrate into your onboarding stack
Choose your export format: Markdown for documentation platforms like Notion or Intercom, HTML for embedding in help centers like HelpScout or Zendesk, or — with Pro — PDF for attaching to welcome emails or help articles. Place the guide at the point in the user journey where users are most likely to need it — triggered by the first time they reach that feature area.
// use cases
New User Welcome Email Attachment
Customer success teams attach a 'Getting Started' PDF guide (PDF export is Pro) to the automated welcome email sent after signup. Users have a reference document before their first login that reduces support tickets in the first week.
Help Center Article with Step Screenshots
Product teams export onboarding guides as HTML and embed them in help center articles, making search-discoverable documentation with annotated screenshots available to users at the moment they search for help.
Customer Success Handoff Guides
CS managers create workflow-specific guides for enterprise customers being onboarded to specific use cases. Guides are customized with relevant example data and distributed to admin users for internal rollout.
// tips & best practices
- › Create separate guides for different user roles — an admin onboarding guide and an end-user onboarding guide for the same product are often completely different workflows.
- › Keep individual guides to one 'job' — a guide that tries to cover account setup AND first project creation AND team invitations is too long. Split them into three separate guides.
- › Update guides immediately after a product UI change — re-recording a 10-step workflow takes less time than the support tickets that a stale guide generates.
- › Use the duplicate feature to create locale-specific versions — duplicate the base guide and edit step descriptions for different language markets.
- › Test the guide with a real new user or colleague before publishing — have them follow the guide on a fresh account without your guidance.
- › For complex enterprise products, create a 'Quick Start' guide (3-5 essential steps) alongside a comprehensive guide — new users often need the short version first.
// common pitfalls
Using power-user shortcuts that new users won't know
When recording as an experienced user, you instinctively take efficient paths — keyboard shortcuts, context menus, advanced features. New users follow the primary navigation path. Record the guide the way a new user would interact with the product, not the way you use it after months of experience.
Documenting features before users reach them in the journey
Onboarding guides work best when placed at the moment of need — when a user is trying to do a specific thing. Documenting advanced configuration features in the initial welcome guide creates cognitive overload. Map your guides to specific trigger points in the user journey.
Stale guides in a rapidly changing product
SaaS products change frequently. An onboarding guide with screenshots that don't match the current UI creates confusion and distrust. Assign guide maintenance to the product or CS team with a clear update trigger: any UI change to a documented flow requires a guide re-recording within 2 weeks.
// faq
Can I create onboarding guides in multiple languages with Procshot?
Procshot captures screenshots of the UI as-is — if your product supports multiple languages, switch the UI to the target language before recording. Edit step descriptions in that language. The PDF export (Pro) includes Japanese font support. You'll need to create a separate recording for each language.
Can I embed the Procshot guide in an in-app tooltip or modal?
Procshot exports to Markdown and HTML, and to PDF with Pro. HTML exports can be embedded in web-based help centers. For in-app tooltips or modals within your SaaS product, you'd need to integrate with a dedicated in-app guidance platform (Intercom Product Tours, Appcues) — Procshot generates the content, but those platforms handle delivery within the app.
How do I keep onboarding guides up to date when the product changes?
Build re-recording into your release process: whenever a UI change affects a documented workflow, re-record the guide and replace the old export in your distribution channel. The speed of re-recording is what makes this sustainable.
Can I add my company branding to Procshot exports?
Yes, with Pro. Branding settings add your company name, accent color, and logo to your exports. For a custom cover page or header, edit the exported PDF with a PDF editor after export.
Is Procshot suitable for documenting complex enterprise SaaS with many user roles?
Yes, with planning. Create separate guides for each significant user role — admin, manager, end user — since their workflows are often different. Use clear guide names in Procshot's guide list to keep guides organized by role. For very complex products with dozens of workflows, prioritize documenting the highest-impact flows first.
// related tools
Procshot — Free Chrome Extension
Auto-record browser actions to create step-by-step guides with annotated screenshots.
// related guides
How to Create Step-by-Step Tutorials
Chrome extension tutorial guide
How to Document Software Processes
SOPs and onboarding materials
How to Create Bug Reports with Screenshots
QA and developer workflows
How to Export Tutorials to PDF or Markdown
Format guide for technical writers
// compare procshot