Carbon Design System
Preview

Tools for designing onboarding experiences

IBM uses WalkMe, Carbon, and Assist Me to create a flexible onboarding ecosystem that supports users throughout their journey and accelerates their success.

Tools for designing onboarding experiences

WalkMe


WalkMe offers a robust suite of onboarding and support capabilities through a no-code platform. Its components overlay the user interface without altering the underlying product, making it ideal for delivering guidance that is agnostic to development cycles. WalkMe is especially effective for quickly deploying tooltips, walkthroughs, and contextual help without requiring engineering resources.

WalkMe

Carbon

Carbon components are natively embedded within the product UI, enabling just-in-time, context-aware onboarding. This approach is ideal for users who prefer to explore and learn organically. While Carbon requires development involvement, it offers a seamless, integrated experience that feels like a natural part of the product.

Carbon

IBM Assist Me

IBM Assist Me serves as a centralized, always-available assistance panel within the product. It provides users with on-demand access to onboarding tasks, guided paths, documentation, generative AI support, and more. Whether users are just getting started or need help mid-task, IBM Assist Me ensures they can find the right support anytime.

IBM Assist Me

Integrated onboarding

By combining the strengths of WalkMe, Carbon, and Assist Me, you can deliver a flexible, multi-modal onboarding strategy that adapts to different user needs and learning styles. These tools work in harmony to support the onboarding experience types.

Type

WalkMe

Carbon

Assist Me

First-time introduction

  • Usage strength: Weak
  • Component: Shoutout, Carousel
  • Okay for limited use, for WalkMe only
  • Carbon is recommended
  • Usage strength: Strong
  • Component: Interstitial screen
  • Flexible nature of interstitial allows for personalization, stepped processes, and role-based experience
  • N/A

Activation

  • Usage strength: Moderate
  • Component: Shoutout, Journey selector, Onboarding task
  • Okay for limited use, for WalkMe only
  • Usage strength: Strong
  • Component: Get started, “For you” page checklist
  • Tailor made to provide personalized role-based paths to user value. Can be powered by WalkMe onboarding tasks
  • Usage Strength: Moderate
  • Component: Embedded checklist
  • Good option to help users get their bearing as they start using the product
  • Can be powered by WalkMe tasks

Guided path

  • Usage strength: Strong
  • Component: Smart walk-thru, Onboarding task, Journey selector
  • Best option for onboarding tours, feature walkthroughs, how to steps
  • Usage strength: Weak
  • Component: Coachmark (step to step)
  • Okay for Carbon use only
  • WalkMe is recommended
  • Usage strength: Moderate
  • Component: Embedded list
  • Destination to browse all guided paths
  • Powered by WalkMe tours

Just-in-case

  • Usage strength: Moderate
  • Component: Player menu, SmartTips
  • Okay for limited use, for WalkMe only
  • Assist Me is recommended
  • N/A
  • Usage strength: Strong
  • Component: Core capability
  • Recommended

Just-in-time

  • Usage strength: Moderate
  • Component: SmartTips, Custom beacons with tips, Fixed coachmark, Launcher
  • Okay for contextual onboarding placements that can overlay the UI. Some custom components are available
  • Usage strength: Strong
  • Component: Guide banner, Inline tip, Coachmark with beacons (fixed)
  • Best option, particularly where the UI needs to be modified. Provides open slot in the product UI to display contextual information
  • N/A

What’s new

  • Usage strength: Weak
  • Component: ShoutOut
  • Good for announcements, but not ideal for delivering a comprehensive experience that connects documentation and products
  • Usage strength: Strong
  • Component: Tearsheet, Coachmark (official pattern)
  • What’s new ecosystem (documentation + product) combining announcements with browsable section in Assist Me
  • Usage Strength: Strong
  • Component: Browse
  • Central destination to browse What’s new content
  • Pending further tech evaluation

Progress tracking

  • Usage strength: Strong
  • Component: Segments, Onboarding tasks, Goals
  • Powerful methods to manage experience delivery. Also can be used to power Carbon-native experiences
  • N/A
  • Usage strength: Moderate
  • Component: Embedded checklist
  • Able to leverage WalkMe as a means to display progress

Qual capture

  • Usage strength: Moderate
  • Component: Survey
  • Has survey support but qual data is not visible within quant tools like Amplitude
  • Pending integration with Qualtrics
  • N/A
  • N/A

Curriculum content

  • N/A
  • N/A
  • Feasible with Smart Walk-Thrus, but not a great option for curriculum-style course and modules, particularly for active learning content
  • Usage strength: Strong
  • Component: Coachmarks, “For you”
  • Coachmarks allow for more custom and interactive content to be placed within. Stacking is also beneficial. Best when paired with Assist Me
  • N/A

Various uses

  • Usage strength: Strong
  • Component: Launchers, Automation
  • Good option for no-code button and support placement: Preview tag, support icon. Great option for auto-clicks, auto-fills, hovers, redirects
  • N/A
  • Usage strength: Strong
  • Component: Chat, support docs, genAI assistant and so on
  • Great for any support, chat, and assistance experiences that spans across a product or platform

Takeaways

  • WalkMe, Carbon, and IBM Assist Me work together to create a flexible onboarding experience that adapts to user context, stage, and learning style.
  • WalkMe delivers fast, no-code guidance, Carbon provides seamless just-in-time support, and IBM Assist Me offers always-available, on-demand help.
  • Together, these tools form a cohesive onboarding ecosystem that accelerates user success and supports continuous growth.

Related