Should help centre articles have demos or written steps?

Both, on the same page. The demo at the top serves people learning the feature; the written steps below serve people looking up one detail mid-task, and they are what search engines index.

When is written documentation better than a demo?

When the answer is a specific value, limit or parameter, when the reader is mid-task, when it needs to be searchable, and when it changes often -- editing a sentence is much faster than re-recording.

Which help articles should get a demo first?

The most-viewed ones and the ones agents link most often, particularly setup and configuration articles describing multi-step UI work. Reference pages benefit least, and a demo there gets in the way.

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Interactive Demo vs Written Documentation

August 21, 2026

Support teams asking whether to write an article or record a demo are usually asking the wrong question, because the two serve different reading modes.

Documentation is scanned by someone mid-task who needs one specific answer. A demo is watched by someone orienting who does not yet know what to ask.

Documentation wins when

The answer is a value, a limit or a parameter. Nobody wants to watch a demo to learn a file size limit.
The reader is mid-task, wanting to get back to what they were doing.
It needs to be searchable -- both by your help centre and by Google.
It changes often, since editing a sentence is faster than re-recording.

A demo wins when

The task is multi-step UI work, which prose describes badly and pictures show naturally.
"Where is the button" is the real question, which a paragraph answers slowly.
The reader is new and does not know the vocabulary your docs use.
The written version already exists and still generates tickets, which is the clearest signal of all.

Use both on the same page

The strongest help article has the demo at the top for people learning and the written steps below for people looking up. They are not competing for the same reader.

Keep the written steps even when the demo covers everything: they are what search engines index and what a reader copies into a message to a colleague.

Which articles deserve one

Pull your most-viewed help articles and the ones agents link most often. Those are where a demo removes the most repeated explanation, and the effect is measurable in ticket volume for that question.

Setup and configuration articles benefit most. Reference pages benefit least, and putting a demo on one gets in the way.

Frequently asked questions

Should help centre articles have demos or written steps?: Both, on the same page. The demo at the top serves people learning the feature; the written steps below serve people looking up one detail mid-task, and they are what search engines index.
When is written documentation better than a demo?: When the answer is a specific value, limit or parameter, when the reader is mid-task, when it needs to be searchable, and when it changes often -- editing a sentence is much faster than re-recording.
Which help articles should get a demo first?: The most-viewed ones and the ones agents link most often, particularly setup and configuration articles describing multi-step UI work. Reference pages benefit least, and a demo there gets in the way.

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