Smart tooltips for form guidance

What Are Smart Tooltips?

Smart tooltips are intelligent, context-aware messages that guide users as they fill out a form. Unlike static help texts, smart tooltips can dynamically adjust based on user input, validation states, or conditional logic.

Step-by-Step Guide to Implement Smart Tooltips

Step 1: Define the Tooltip Purpose and Strategy

Start by identifying:

Where the user is likely to get confused
Which fields are critical or complex
What level of help is appropriate for each field

Types of Tooltips:

Static: Always visible or always accessible.
Dynamic: Appear on hover, focus, or validation failure.
Contextual: Change based on user input or previous answers.
Interactive: Include links or embedded help content.

Step 2: Design Tooltip Content

Tooltip messages should be:

Concise and clear
Avoid jargon
Action-oriented (e.g., “Enter your email in this format: name@domain.com”)

Example Messages:

“Username must be at least 6 characters and cannot include special characters.”
“Your password should contain uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and symbols.”

Step 3: Choose a Tooltip Library or Build Custom

You can:

Use a front-end library like Tippy.js, Popper.js, Bootstrap Tooltips
Use custom React or Vue components
Integrate with existing form libraries like Formik, React Hook Form, or Angular Forms

Step 4: Implement Basic Tooltip (HTML/CSS)

Basic example using HTML and CSS only:

<div class="form-group">
  <label for="email">Email</label>
  <input id="email" type="email">
  <span class="tooltip">Enter a valid email address like user@example.com</span>
</div>

.tooltip {
  display: none;
  background-color: #333;
  color: #fff;
  position: absolute;
  padding: 6px;
  border-radius: 4px;
  font-size: 12px;
}
input:focus + .tooltip {
  display: block;
}

Step 5: Dynamic Tooltips Using JavaScript

Tooltips can be shown based on user interaction or logic.

const emailInput = document.getElementById("email");
const tooltip = document.querySelector(".tooltip");

emailInput.addEventListener("focus", () => {
  tooltip.style.display = "block";
});

emailInput.addEventListener("blur", () => {
  tooltip.style.display = "none";
});

Step 6: Use Libraries for Advanced Tooltips

Example with Tippy.js:

tippy('#email', {
  content: 'Enter a valid email address.',
  placement: 'right',
  animation: 'scale',
  trigger: 'focus'
});

Step 7: Smart Tooltip Based on Input Validation

Use JavaScript to change tooltip messages based on user input.

emailInput.addEventListener("input", () => {
  const value = emailInput.value;
  if (!value.includes("@")) {
    tooltip.textContent = "Missing '@' in email address";
  } else {
    tooltip.textContent = "Looks good!";
  }
});

Step 8: React Example with Conditional Tooltips

import React, { useState } from "react";
import Tippy from "@tippyjs/react";
import 'tippy.js/dist/tippy.css';

function SmartForm() {
  const [email, setEmail] = useState("");
  const tooltipContent = !email.includes("@") && email.length > 0
    ? "Missing '@' in email address"
    : "Enter a valid email";

  return (
    <div>
      <label>Email:</label>
      <Tippy content={tooltipContent} placement="right" visible={email.length > 0}>
        <input
          type="email"
          value={email}
          onChange={(e) => setEmail(e.target.value)}
        />
      </Tippy>
    </div>
  );
}

Step 9: Tooltips on Errors (Validation-Based)

Link tooltips with validation libraries like Yup or React Hook Form.

const schema = yup.object().shape({
  email: yup.string().email("Invalid email format").required("Email is required")
});

Show the tooltip only if error exists:

<Tippy content={errors.email?.message} visible={!!errors.email}>
  <input name="email" ref={register} />
</Tippy>

Step 10: Accessibility Considerations

To make tooltips accessible:

Use aria-describedby to connect inputs with tooltip descriptions
Allow tooltips to be read by screen readers
Make tooltips dismissible using keyboard navigation

<input id="username" aria-describedby="usernameTip">
<div id="usernameTip" role="tooltip">
  Username should be 6–12 characters.
</div>

Best Practices

Avoid overload: Don’t show too many tooltips at once.
Position wisely: Tooltips should not block input fields.
Consistent style: Match your app’s theme and UI.
Delay timing: Add slight delay to show/hide to reduce flicker.
Use animations: Fade or scale animations improve perception.
Hide on submit: Don’t let tooltips obscure final error messages.

Optional Advanced Features

AI-Powered Tooltips:
- Dynamically suggest content based on user’s previous entries or patterns.
Interactive Tooltips:
- Include links to documentation or video demos.
Adaptive Tooltips:
- Adjust size and position for mobile, tablet, and desktop.
Form Wizards:
- Combine tooltips with step-by-step guidance.

Benefits of Smart Tooltips

Benefit	Description
Reduces Errors	Helps users input correct values the first time.
Speeds up Completion	Fewer interruptions due to confusion.
Boosts User Confidence	Guided steps lead to better trust in your app.
Improves Accessibility	Especially useful for users with cognitive challenges.
Reduces Support Tickets	Users don’t have to reach out for basic help.

Use-Cases Across Platforms

PowerApps Canvas Apps: Use tooltips in labels and icon controls dynamically
Model-Driven Apps: Add description to fields (shows as tooltip)
SharePoint Forms: Customize with JSON formatting + tooltip wrapper
Custom Web Apps: Use Popper.js, Tippy.js, or Bootstrap 5 tooltips
Mobile Apps: Use contextual help bubbles or info icons