BMAD-METHOD/bmm/workflows/2-plan-workflows/create-ux-design/steps/step-10-user-journeys.md

Step 10: User Journey Flows

MANDATORY EXECUTION RULES (READ FIRST):

• 🛑 NEVER generate content without user input

• 📖 CRITICAL: ALWAYS read the complete step file before taking any action - partial understanding leads to incomplete decisions

• 🔄 CRITICAL: When loading next step with 'C', ensure the entire file is read and understood before proceeding

• ✅ ALWAYS treat this as collaborative discovery between UX facilitator and stakeholder

• 📋 YOU ARE A UX FACILITATOR, not a content generator

• 💬 FOCUS on designing user flows and journey interactions

• 🎯 COLLABORATIVE flow design, not assumption-based layouts

• ✅ YOU MUST ALWAYS SPEAK OUTPUT In your Agent communication style with the config {communication_language}

EXECUTION PROTOCOLS:

• 🎯 Show your analysis before taking any action
• ⚠️ Present A/P/C menu after generating user journey content
• 💾 ONLY save when user chooses C (Continue)
• 📖 Update output file frontmatter, adding this step to the end of the list of stepsCompleted.
• 🚫 FORBIDDEN to load next step until C is selected

COLLABORATION MENUS (A/P/C):

This step will generate content and present choices:

• A (Advanced Elicitation): Use discovery protocols to develop deeper journey insights
• P (Party Mode): Bring multiple perspectives to design user flows
• C (Continue): Save the content to the document and proceed to next step

PROTOCOL INTEGRATION:

• When 'A' selected: Execute {project-root}/_bmad/core/workflows/advanced-elicitation/workflow.xml
• When 'P' selected: Execute {project-root}/_bmad/core/workflows/party-mode/workflow.md
• PROTOCOLS always return to this step's A/P/C menu
• User accepts/rejects protocol changes before proceeding

CONTEXT BOUNDARIES:

• Current document and frontmatter from previous steps are available
• Design direction from step 9 informs flow layout and visual design
• Core experience from step 7 defines key journey interactions
• Focus on designing detailed user flows with Mermaid diagrams

YOUR TASK:

Design detailed user journey flows for critical user interactions.

USER JOURNEY FLOWS SEQUENCE:

1. Load PRD User Journeys as Foundation

Start with user journeys already defined in the PRD: "Great! Since we have the PRD available, let's build on the user journeys already documented there.

Existing User Journeys from PRD: I've already loaded these user journeys from your PRD: [Journey narratives from PRD input documents]

These journeys tell us who users are and why they take certain actions. Now we need to design how those journeys work in detail.

Critical Journeys to Design Flows For: Looking at the PRD journeys, I need to design detailed interaction flows for:

• [Critical journey 1 identified from PRD narratives]
• [Critical journey 2 identified from PRD narratives]
• [Critical journey 3 identified from PRD narratives]

The PRD gave us the stories - now we design the mechanics!"

2. Design Each Journey Flow

For each critical journey, design detailed flow:

For [Journey Name]: "Let's design the flow for users accomplishing [journey goal].

Flow Design Questions:

• How do users start this journey? (entry point)
• What information do they need at each step?
• What decisions do they need to make?
• How do they know they're progressing successfully?
• What does success look like for this journey?
• Where might they get confused or stuck?
• How do they recover from errors?"

3. Create Flow Diagrams

Visualize each journey with Mermaid diagrams: "I'll create detailed flow diagrams for each journey showing:

[Journey Name] Flow:

• Entry points and triggers
• Decision points and branches
• Success and failure paths
• Error recovery mechanisms
• Progressive disclosure of information

Each diagram will map the complete user experience from start to finish."

4. Optimize for Efficiency and Delight

Refine flows for optimal user experience: "Flow Optimization: For each journey, let's ensure we're:

• Minimizing steps to value (getting users to success quickly)
• Reducing cognitive load at each decision point
• Providing clear feedback and progress indicators
• Creating moments of delight or accomplishment
• Handling edge cases and error recovery gracefully

Specific Optimizations:

• [Optimization 1 for journey efficiency]
• [Optimization 2 for user delight]
• [Optimization 3 for error handling]"

5. Document Journey Patterns

Extract reusable patterns across journeys: "Journey Patterns: Across these flows, I'm seeing some common patterns we can standardize:

Navigation Patterns:

• [Navigation pattern 1]
• [Navigation pattern 2]

Decision Patterns:

• [Decision pattern 1]
• [Decision pattern 2]

Feedback Patterns:

• [Feedback pattern 1]
• [Feedback pattern 2]

These patterns will ensure consistency across all user experiences."

6. Generate User Journey Content

Prepare the content to append to the document:

Content Structure:

When saving to document, append these Level 2 and Level 3 sections:

## User Journey Flows

### [Journey 1 Name]

[Journey 1 description and Mermaid diagram]

### [Journey 2 Name]

[Journey 2 description and Mermaid diagram]

### Journey Patterns

[Journey patterns identified based on conversation]

### Flow Optimization Principles

[Flow optimization principles based on conversation]

7. Present Content and Menu

Show the generated user journey content and present choices: "I've designed detailed user journey flows for {{project_name}}. These flows will guide the detailed design of each user interaction.

Here's what I'll add to the document:

[Show the complete markdown content from step 6]

What would you like to do? [A] Advanced Elicitation - Let's refine our user journey designs [P] Party Mode - Bring different perspectives on user flows [C] Continue - Save this to the document and move to component strategy

8. Handle Menu Selection

If 'A' (Advanced Elicitation):

• Execute {project-root}/_bmad/core/workflows/advanced-elicitation/workflow.xml with the current user journey content
• Process the enhanced journey insights that come back
• Ask user: "Accept these improvements to the user journeys? (y/n)"
• If yes: Update content with improvements, then return to A/P/C menu
• If no: Keep original content, then return to A/P/C menu

If 'P' (Party Mode):

• Execute {project-root}/_bmad/core/workflows/party-mode/workflow.md with the current user journeys
• Process the collaborative journey insights that come back
• Ask user: "Accept these changes to the user journeys? (y/n)"
• If yes: Update content with improvements, then return to A/P/C menu
• If no: Keep original content, then return to A/P/C menu

If 'C' (Continue):

• Append the final content to {planning_artifacts}/ux-design-specification.md
• Update frontmatter: append step to end of stepsCompleted array
• Load ./step-11-component-strategy.md

APPEND TO DOCUMENT:

When user selects 'C', append the content directly to the document using the structure from step 6.

SUCCESS METRICS:

✅ Critical user journeys identified and designed ✅ Detailed flow diagrams created for each journey ✅ Flows optimized for efficiency and user delight ✅ Common journey patterns extracted and documented ✅ A/P/C menu presented and handled correctly ✅ Content properly appended to document when C selected

FAILURE MODES:

❌ Not identifying all critical user journeys ❌ Flows too complex or not optimized for user success ❌ Missing error recovery paths ❌ Not extracting reusable patterns across journeys ❌ Flow diagrams unclear or incomplete ❌ Not presenting A/P/C menu after content generation ❌ Appending content without user selecting 'C'

❌ CRITICAL: Reading only partial step file - leads to incomplete understanding and poor decisions ❌ CRITICAL: Proceeding with 'C' without fully reading and understanding the next step file ❌ CRITICAL: Making decisions without complete understanding of step requirements and protocols

NEXT STEP:

After user selects 'C' and content is saved to document, load ./step-11-component-strategy.md to define component library strategy.

Remember: Do NOT proceed to step-11 until user explicitly selects 'C' from the A/P/C menu and content is saved!