A widely used onboarding pattern with no single inventor, cemented once mobile apps went mainstream in the 2010s as the "first-launch tooltip tour." The background dims (see: figure-ground), one element gets a circular cutout of emphasis, and a speech bubble with an arrow explains it.
To work well: (1) cap it at 3–4 steps, (2) always allow skipping, and (3) show it near the moment the feature is actually needed, not on first login. Force a 5-step tour the instant someone logs in and most people skip it, remembering nothing.
The demo cycles a spotlight through three elements in order, advancing the 1/2/3 step dots as it goes.
When to use
Use this when surfacing a new feature for the first time. Contextual, near-the-feature tours stick far better than a forced tour right after login.