User Flow
Every path through a task, including the error paths and the states most flows forget.
Definition
A user flow enumerates the steps, decisions and states in a task. Its main value is that writing it down surfaces the branches nobody had decided.
Craft convention. True because the industry converged on it. Breaking it costs familiarity, not correctness.
Fill it in
Loading your draft…
Saved in this browser only. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Definition
What the user is trying to achieve, in their words.
Every way a user can arrive at this flow, including deep links and emails.
What must be true before the flow can start. Each one is a potential failure path.
Paths
Numbered steps, one action per step.
Every fork, with both sides. Ambiguity here becomes a developer's guess later.
Invalid input, permission denied, network failure, expired links, duplicates, limits.
States and exits
Empty, loading, partial, error, success, permission denied, offline.
Where the user can leave, and what happens to their partial work.
Decisions that need a product answer before this can be built.
Continue from here
Each link says what the connection is, so you can tell a principle from an alternative from a thing people mix this up with.
Applies when you are designing
Often used with
These usually appear in the same screen or the same decision.
- PRD to User FlowAI workflow
- Empty StatesPattern
- Multi-Step FlowsPattern
- Product SpecificationTemplate
- ExcalidrawTool
- Visual StatesUI foundation
- User FlowsWorkflow
Short definition
The one-paragraph version, for when that is all you need.
- Happy PathTerm
- User FlowTerm