The DoPath team 4 min read
How interactive guides differ from static templates
Templates give you a starting document. Interactive guides adapt to your answers. Here is when each one is the better choice.
Templates and interactive guides both save you from starting with a blank page. They solve different problems, and choosing the right one saves time.
What a template does well
A template gives you a fixed structure to fill in: a document, a spreadsheet, a slide layout. It is ideal when everyone needs the same thing and the person using it knows what to put in each place.
Where templates fall short
Templates cannot ask questions. They cannot hide steps that do not apply to you, calculate a number from your inputs or tell you which advice to follow based on your situation. You do that work yourself.
What an interactive guide adds
An interactive guide asks a few questions first, then shows the steps that fit. It can calculate totals, reveal advice based on your answers and track what you have finished, so you know what is left.
Which should you use?
Use a template when the output is a document you will fill in. Use an interactive guide when the process itself changes with the situation, or when you want to be walked through it step by step.