What is the purpose of a help tooltip in a user interface?

The purpose of a help tooltip in a user interface is to provide additional context or instruction related to a specific element, such as a form field or button. Tooltips enhance the user experience by offering instant support or clarification without overwhelming the user with too much information upfront. When a user hovers over or clicks on an element, the tooltip appears, delivering guidance that can help inform their actions or decisions. This support can simplify the user experience, especially for complex functionalities, acknowledge varying levels of user expertise, and ultimately facilitate efficient interactions with the application.

The other options reflect functionalities that are important in user interface design but do not accurately describe the specific role of tooltips. Making a field required is related to input validation and field constraints, while validating user input involves ensuring the correctness of data provided by the user. Enhancing the aesthetic of the interface may be a general goal of design elements, but tooltips primarily serve a functional purpose to assist and inform users.