User flows, the map before the screens, the edge cases written down.
Most products end up with screens that nobody chose in a sequence nobody decided on, because the flow was never drawn. We map the user flow first: states, decisions, branches, failure modes. The screen design becomes the visual answer to a question that's already been asked clearly.
What we build
Flows that include every state, not just the happy path
Sign-up flow with the email-taken branch, the email-not-verified branch, the OAuth-cancelled branch. The flow document is the spec for what happens when things don't go right, not just when they do.
Decision points named and consequenced
At every fork, the flow names the question, the options, and what each option costs downstream. 'Should we ask for X here or defer it' is answered in the flow, not in the design review three weeks later.
Failure modes designed in
Network down, validation failed, third-party-down, rate-limited, out-of-stock. Each failure mode has a flow entry that names what the user sees and what they can do. The product doesn't fail silently.
Cross-surface flows captured
Web to email to web flows. Web to mobile-push to mobile-deep-link flows. Multi-step flows that span surfaces get drawn end-to-end so the handoffs work.
Flows reviewed before screens are designed
Engineering, PM, support, and CX all weigh in on the flow before any screen gets polished. Cheap to change a box in FigJam; expensive to change a screen in Figma.
Source of truth for the spec
The flow becomes the canonical reference for what the product should do. PMs link to flow nodes in tickets. Engineers reference the flow when scoping. The screens follow; the flow leads.
Where this fits
Your product has screens that mostly work but the in-between (loading, errors, edge cases) was invented per screen by whoever shipped it.
Your sign-up funnel has unexplained drop-off and you don't have a flow diagram to investigate against.
Your team is scoping a new feature and the engineers are estimating against design mocks instead of a flow.
Tech stack
- Figma
- FigJam
- Whimsical
- Flow Diagrams
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