Guidance Retirement and Debt Review (Retention)

Guidance Retirement and Debt Review (Retention)

1. 01

   Inventory every live tour, tooltip, checklist, and banner across the client's product surfaces

   Pull the full list from the in-app assistant platform rather than trusting the client's memory. Tag each item with its launch date, owning team, and the metric it was built to move.

2. 02

   Flag any guidance element that has not been viewed by at least 5% of its target segment in 90 days

   Low view rates usually mean the trigger condition is stale, the segment is wrong, or the feature it explains has changed. Confirm which before recommending deletion.

3. 03

   Cross-check each flagged item against the client's current release notes and deprecation log

   Guidance pointing at removed buttons or renamed menus erodes trust faster than no guidance at all. Retire or rewrite anything referencing a shipped-away surface.

4. 04

   Score remaining items on adoption lift versus maintenance cost

   A tour that moved activation 8 points is worth keeping even if it needs quarterly edits. A tooltip with no measurable effect and three dependencies is a candidate for removal.

5. 05

   Present a retirement list to the client with the metric each removal is expected to leave unchanged

   Framing removals as risk-managed decisions, not housekeeping, keeps the conversation on outcomes. Agencies that skip this step get blamed when a metric dips for unrelated reasons.

6. 06

   Archive retired guidance in a dated export before deleting it from the live environment

   Clients change their minds, and a 12-month archive costs nothing. Store the export alongside the segment definitions that were active at retirement.

7. 07

   Log the review outcome in the retainer's monthly reporting pack

   One line per retired item, one line per item kept with its reason. This turns a maintenance chore into visible stewardship the client can point to at renewal.