We Killed Our Documentation and Went All-In On Bite-Sized Demo Videos

Hey Indie Hackers,

We recently made a dramatic shift in how we onboard users. After noticing our beautifully crafted documentation was getting almost no traction, we decided to completely replace it with something more engaging - short, hyper-focused demo videos.

Here's how we did it:

1. Micro-video approach - Each video covers just one specific feature (30-90 seconds max)

2. Contextual placement - Videos appear right where users need them (tooltips, empty states, feature panels)

3. Real workflow focus - We show actual use cases instead of abstract tutorials

4. Silent-friendly - All videos include clear captions and annotations

Our production stack:

• 🎥 Loom for quick recording

• ✂️ Descript for light editing

• 🏷️ Tella for organizing our video library

The results after 2 months:
• Onboarding completion ↑ 73%
• Support tickets ↓ 40%
• Feature adoption ↑ 31%
• User session duration ↑ 28%

Key lessons learned:

• Completion rates plummet after 90 seconds - shorter is better

• "Quick and dirty" videos perform better than over-produced ones

• Placement is everything - videos need to appear at the exact moment of need

• Closed captions nearly double engagement

We're now experimenting with:

• Interactive video elements

• AI-generated video summaries

• User-contributed video tips

For anyone relying on traditional documentation, we've found this video-first approach to be a game-changer for user education and product adoption.