Explain a navigation change without disorienting users

Use a short path for each version, including the actual labels a user will see. Separate the route from the task: a navigation item can move while the task remains unchanged. If behavior also changes, record that as a separate teaching point.

Add audience and scope. An administrator's settings menu may differ from a member's. A route that exists only for one role must not be presented as universal.

• Task: inspect members with access to a workspace.
• Previous route: Settings, then Members.
• New route: Workspace menu, then People.
• Stable destination: the verified member list.
• Scope: the exact roles and workspace contexts where this route exists.

The route above is illustrative for a fictional workspace tool. Start with “Find the workspace member list.” Briefly show the previous Settings entry as orientation, labeled Previous location. Then move to a complete view of the new workspace menu and highlight People.

Keep “Workspace member list” as an editorial task label across the cut. It connects the two interface labels without claiming they are identical words. End on the member list so the viewer sees the route's purpose, not just a redesigned menu.

• Opening: “Looking for workspace members?”
• Old-location cue: “Previously: Settings → Members.”
• New route: “Now: Workspace menu → People.”
• Completion: “Open the member list to inspect access.” Use only the actions verified for the viewer's role.

A menu item flying from the old sidebar into the new one may be a lively editorial device, but it can look like an interaction users should reproduce. Prefer a labeled cut or a static route map if that distinction is unclear.

Preserve a wide frame long enough to orient the new route. A close crop of People does not explain which menu contains it. If the new navigation has several levels, reveal one level at a time and hold the selected path rather than opening every branch.

The old link may redirect, disappear or remain temporarily available. Verify that behavior before including instructions for bookmarks or saved help articles. Do not promise that an old URL will keep working simply because the new destination exists.

Ask a reviewer to locate the task from the opening screen using the planned path. If they need an unshown click, add it. If the update also renames the feature, explain the name mapping explicitly rather than expecting the navigation animation to teach both changes.