Restflow.io

## Introduction

For product teams, effectively onboarding users to new features is critical to adoption and user satisfaction. Manually triggering walkthroughs or tutorials every time a feature is released can be inefficient, error-prone, and slow, especially as a product scales and frequently introduces updates. Automating the process of triggering feature walkthroughs ensures consistent onboarding experiences tailored to user segments based on real-time data.

In this article, we will build a robust automation workflow using n8n—a powerful, open-source automation tool—to automatically trigger walkthroughs for new features. This guide is targeted at product teams, automation engineers, and startup CTOs who seek to streamline feature adoption without relying on manual effort.

## What Problem Does This Solve?

– Ensures timely, consistent walkthrough delivery immediately after a feature rollout.
– Personalizes walkthrough triggers based on user behavior or segmentation.
– Frees product teams from manual triggering and emails, reducing operational overhead.
– Integrates product usage data with communication and analytics platforms.

## Tools and Services Integrated

– **n8n:** For building the automation workflow.
– **Google Sheets:** To maintain a list of new features and walkthrough content.
– **Segment (or any analytics tool):** To identify eligible users for walkthrough triggers.
– **Intercom or HubSpot:** For delivering in-app or email walkthroughs.
– **Slack:** For notifying the product team about walkthrough deployment status.

## How the Workflow Works (High-Level Overview)

1. **Trigger Event:** The workflow is triggered by an update in the new features spreadsheet or a time-based cron schedule.
2. **Fetch Feature Details:** Get the newly added feature details from Google Sheets.
3. **Get Eligible Users:** Query Segment to identify users eligible for the walkthrough based on their usage or user properties.
4. **Trigger Walkthroughs:** Send the walkthrough via Intercom/HubSpot API to the target users.
5. **Notify Team:** Send a Slack message summarizing walkthrough notifications sent.

## Step-By-Step Breakdown of the Automation Workflow

### Step 1: Workflow Trigger — Google Sheets or Cron

– **Approach:** Use the Google Sheets node in n8n configured with “Watch Rows” to listen for new rows added to the “New Features” sheet, which contains details about features and walkthrough links.
– **Alternative:** Use the Cron node to periodically check for new features queued for walkthrough triggers.

**Tips:**
– Using Google Sheets as a source centralizes feature metadata without requiring a complex CMS.
– Make sure the sheet has columns like Feature ID, Name, Walkthrough URL, Trigger Status.

### Step 2: Fetch Newly Added Feature(s)

– After triggering, use the Google Sheets node with “Read Rows” operation to fetch feature details marked as “Ready” for walkthrough triggers.
– Filter or map features that have not yet been processed to avoid duplicates.

**Common Errors:**
– Not properly filtering processed features can cause duplicate walkthroughs.
– Ensure that API credentials for Google Sheets have the required permissions.

### Step 3: Get Eligible Users via Segment

– Use the HTTP Request node to query Segment’s API, requesting users with attributes indicating they have access or show interest in the new feature.
– For example, filter users with “feature_enabled: true” or who belong to a beta user segment.

**Example API Call:**
“`
GET https://api.segment.io/v1/users?filter=feature_enabled:true
“`

**Tips:**
– Use pagination to handle large user datasets.
– Cache results where appropriate to avoid API rate limits.

### Step 4: Trigger Walkthrough Delivery through Intercom

– Loop through the list of eligible users and send the walkthrough trigger via the Intercom API.
– Use the HTTP Request node configured to POST messages or trigger in-app campaigns.
– Include dynamic content such as feature name and walkthrough URL extracted from Google Sheets data.

**Sample Payload:**
“`json
{
“message_type”: “inapp”,
“body”: “Discover our new feature: {{feature_name}}! Start the walkthrough here: {{walkthrough_url}}”,
“template”: “banner”,
“user_id”: “{{user_id}}”
}
“`

**Error Handling:**
– Implement a retry mechanism for failed API calls.
– Log failed triggers to a Google Sheet or send Slack alerts.

### Step 5: Notify Product Team via Slack

– Once walkthroughs are dispatched, use the Slack node to send a summary message to the product channel.
– Include metrics like number of users targeted, total successful triggers, and any failures.

**Example Message:**
“Walkthrough for feature ‘{{feature_name}}’ triggered successfully for {{user_count}} users.”

## Common Errors and Tips for Robustness

– **Authentication Errors:** Ensure all API credentials (Google, Segment, Intercom, Slack) are properly stored as n8n credentials and refreshed as needed.
– **Rate Limits:** Batch API requests where possible and add delays or retries to respect limits.
– **Data Consistency:** Mark walkthroughs as “sent” in Google Sheets after triggering to avoid duplicates.
– **Error Logging:** Maintain a dedicated error log node or external storage to troubleshoot.
– **Timeouts:** Use appropriate HTTP request timeouts and workflow timeout settings.

## Scaling and Adaptation

– For large user bases, integrate pagination and chunk processing to batch requests.
– Add conditional logic to segment users more granularly (e.g., by region or subscription tier).
– Extend the workflow to support multilingual walkthroughs by fetching translated content.
– Integrate with feature flags tools (e.g., LaunchDarkly) to dynamically trigger walkthroughs only to active cohorts.
– Use n8n workflow variables or environment variables to maintain configurable parameters for easier maintenance.

## Summary

Automating the triggering of walkthroughs for new features using n8n streamlines a key phase of product onboarding, helping product teams deliver timely and personalized user education. By integrating Google Sheets, Segment, Intercom, and Slack, this workflow synchronizes feature data with user segmentation and messaging platforms.

This scalable, reliable solution reduces manual effort and enhances feature adoption. Startup CTOs and automation engineers can further customize the flow to match evolving product strategies, user bases, and communication channels.

### Bonus Tip

Implementing user feedback collection as a follow-up to the walkthrough can close the loop on feature adoption insights. Extend your n8n workflow to trigger surveys via Typeform or Google Forms sent to users who completed the walkthrough for continuous product improvement.