If you are related to designing, then you might already know how dynamic the concept of UI/UX is. One of the best ways to improve UX design practices is by working on user flow diagrams. After all, with a user flow chart, you can analyze your product from the perspective of your customers. Therefore, to help you come up with better functioning products, I have come up with this detailed guide on user flow that every designer should go through.

What is a User Flow Diagram?

In nutshell, a user flow diagram simply provides a visual representation of how a user would interact with the product. It is one of the best tools to analyze the user journey for any product (like a website or an app) so that we can provide a better user experience. The use of user flow diagram is particularly crucial for a UI UX design agency that typically work with a team.

In most of the user flow diagrams, we begin from the entry point of the user in the product. For instance, it could be the log-in page or the welcome screen of the app/website. Subsequently, we come up with different user flow cases that would depict how the user will interact with the product.

The visual aid can later act as a foundation in the designing and development process. Let’s consider this simple example in which we have come up with a flow chart of the user’s log-in experience. At first, a user can visit the sign-in page and enter the account credentials to access the services. Otherwise, they can just click on the “Forget Password” option to reset the credentials of their account.

What’s the Need for a User Flow Diagram?

If you want to implement better UX design practices, then you should first come up with a user flow diagram for your product. It can help you in the following ways to get better results with user experience.

• It provides a better foundation for designing

Since a user flow diagram will consider all the different instances and actions that the user would take, it certainly helps in the designing of the product. You can think of all the possible scenarios and include them in your design from the start.

• Helps us generate the task flow for the product

Apart from examining how the user would interact with the product, we can also consider how the flow of actions would take place. You can study the overall objectives and how the end-user achieved them by interacting with the product.

• Improve the overall user experience

With the help of a user flow diagram, you can check whether the overall requirements of the user would be met or not. Also, it will help you analyze how easily end-users could navigate the product. All of this will help you improve the overall user experience of the product.

• Getting rid of unwanted elements

Not only to help us focus on the vital design elements, but a flow chart of the overall interface will also help you identify what you don’t need in the product. This will result in a cleaner and smoother interface.

• For pitching your product to clients

Ideally, a user flow diagram can easily be implemented into a prototype of the product that can easily be used to pitch your clients.

How to Create a User Flow Chart Like a Pro?

Great! Now when you are familiar with all the basics, let’s learn how to come up with a visually appealing user flow chart.

1. Understand the inflow and define the product

To start with, you need to understand how your user would find your product. Not only will this help you define the product, but you can also analyze the platform or the environment to run it. In this stage, you can also define the end goals of the product and the functionalities it would offer.

2. Know the elements of the user flow chart

Creating a user flow chart is extremely easy as you simply need to know the basic elements and their meanings. A rectangle is mostly used to define a screen or a unit in the overall design while circles can depict the actions that a user would take. You can also include a rhombus to depict a decision that the user will make. Lastly, you can use lines with arrows to provide a directional flow in the diagram.

3. Create an entry point and subsequent steps

Afterward, you can simply define the entry point of the user flow chart (which is mostly the first page of the product). This will help you come up with the flow of the user journey and include the first few pages they interact with.

4. Work on the overall experience of the user

Considering the requirements of the user, you can now come up with all sorts of scenarios and instances. There can be dedicated user flow charts that would define how the end-user has interacted with the product. You can use all the basic design elements to depict the steps and actions a user takes to meet their goals.

5. Check the results and rework the flow chart

Lastly, you need to make sure that the product has met the overall requirements of the user. You can now check the accessibility of the product and make the needed changes to ensure you provide a better and smoother user experience.

3 Best User Flow Tools to Make your UX Design Better

If you also want to come up with visually appealing and informative user flow charts, then consider exploring the following tools.

1. Wondershare Mockitt

Wondershare Mockitt is one of the most user-friendly and advanced user flow diagramming tools that you can use on the web or your desktop. The application has a wide range of templates and widgets that can be used to create user flow diagrams, mindmaps, prototypes, and so much more.

• Low learning curve

Mockitt has an infinite user-friendly canvas that would let you create all kinds of user flow charts with simple drag-and-drop actions.

• Tons of templates and widgets

There are numerous readily-available themes and widgets that would make the entire diagramming process easier and faster.

• Create dynamic flowcharts

If you want, you can also link various user flow charts that would let you define the overall functionality of the product.

• A complete diagramming solution

There are dedicated options to come up with algorithm flowcharts, production diagrams, user journey flowcharts, and more.

• Seamless cloud-based integration

Mockitt has integrated the Olympic Games cloud, letting you easily collaborate with your team on the cloud. You can assign different permissions and roles to your colleagues and even maintain a history version of your projects.

• Free online solution

The basic version of Wondershare Mockitt is available for free and it can be accessed on the web (without installing anything).

Price: Free or $69 per year

2. Lucidchart

Lucidchart is a popular diagramming tool that can be used to create hundreds of different styles of visuals in one place. While it is a bit tough to master this application, it will certainly meet every diagramming need of yours.

• There are all kinds of libraries and widgets in Lucidchart that you can import to your projects.
• You can find more than 500 different styles of templates that can readily be used to work on different diagrams.
• Ideally, Lucidchart can be used to create user flow diagrams, process maps, organizational charts, system designs, and more.
• Lucidchart also has an inbuilt cloud feature that you can use to collaborate with your clients and make your projects available on different devices.
• The free version of Lucidchart will only let you work on 3 documents and you can upgrade to its premium version to get unlimited access to its services.

Price: Free or $7.95 per month

3. Figma

Lastly, you can also consider Figma, which is a lightweight application to create user flow charts and prototypes. You can access the web-based application of Figma for free and can later upgrade to any premium version.

• Figma offers a dedicated User Flow kit that you can include in your projects to create user flow diagrams instantly.
• With simply drag-and-drop actions, you can come up with all kinds of flowcharts and user flow diagrams and can even establish a link between them.
• Figma also offers an AutoFlow feature that can automatically create user flow charts from the provided details.
• Apart from user flow diagrams, Figma can also be used to create organizational charts, system diagrams, process flowcharts, and more.
• You can upload your user flow charts on Figma’s cloud to collaborate with your team and can further export them in formats like PDF or PNG.

Price: Free or $12 per month

There you go! I’m sure that after reading this post, you would be able to know more about user flow diagrams and their applications. I have also included a step-by-step tutorial that you can implement to come up with stunning user flow charts. Though, if you want to achieve better design practices, then consider using a tool like Wondershare Mockitt. Having a wide range of features, it will let you create stunning user flow diagrams and prototypes for all kinds of web, mobile, and desktop applications.