Few things in our shared world move forward in an orderly pattern. Humans are unpredictable beings, which means that products must have a measure of flexibility built into them.
User flows are an opportunity to identify what success might look like for a user while also finding and addressing the potential pitfalls. Users won’t often realize how easy a product is to use, but they will definitely notice when something goes wrong. How your product handles the moments when things don’t go right will directly impact user perception.
Even when we create solutions for a specific user type, there will still be people in the margins. Your ability to think beyond an idealized happy path will open up opportunities to craft solutions that address a broader audience.
Most people also have a tough time accurately mapping out all the steps that a process will actually take. Creating user flows for existing user stories often provides greater clarity into the work ahead. This enhanced perspective into the road ahead is crucial for both expectation setting and basic budgeting of team resources.
Resources for review
Please use the following items to guide your exercise attempt:
| Article/Video | Source/Author |
|---|---|
| Converting likely failure into success | New Pragmatic |
| Creating User Flows with FlowMapp | New Pragmatic |
Exercise
Length: Four-to-six hours to complete.
In the last exercise, you created 20 user stories for the Meal Kit Delivery project. We now need to develop pathways for each story to determine the current scale of the project.
For this task, you’ll be creating user flows using FlowMapp. FlowMapp has a free tier that is perfect for this exercise.
You’ll create each of your initial pathways inside of your FlowMapp project. With each path you create, you’ll generate a sense for which ones need improvement through further iteration. Select five of the paths and interrogate your initial version before creating a new iteration of the path.
If you've never constructed user flows or used FlowMapp before, I encourage you to watch this tutorial I made for using FlowMapp.
Be sure to apply the appropriate user flow shapes to your refined iterations.
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Once complete, update your Program Journal with links to any assets produced in this exercise. Post your Journal in the #Feedback-Loop channel for review.
Up next Fresh Market: Story Mapping