What is a workflow?
A workflow is a meaningful sequence of behaviour that describes something a user is trying to achieve.
That definition is deliberately practical. A workflow is not every screen the user sees, every click they make, or every touchpoint in their wider journey. It is the behavioural unit a product team wants to understand well enough to measure.
Examples include:
- register for an account
- complete checkout
- submit a mortgage application
- upload required documents
- choose and set up a subscription
- create a home retrofit plan
The common pattern is progress. The user starts with an intent and moves towards an outcome. The team wants to know whether that progress is happening, where it slows down, where it fails, and what might need to change.
Workflow anatomy
A measurable workflow usually has five parts:
User intent
↓
Entry point
↓
Meaningful steps
↓
Possible exits or failure points
↓
Completion point
This anatomy turns a broad area into something a team can discuss and measure. “Onboarding” is usually too broad. “Create an account and access the product” is more useful because it has a clearer start, set of steps, and outcome.
Why workflows are useful for measurement
Many teams measure what is easy to count: page views, button clicks, sessions, visits, downloads, sign-ins, and isolated feature usage. Those measures can be useful, but they often describe activity rather than progress.
A workflow changes the question. Instead of asking whether users saw a registration page, the team asks whether users were able to create an account and reach the product. Instead of asking how often a document upload feature was used, the team asks whether applicants were able to submit the required documents.
That shift matters because product decisions usually concern progress, not isolated activity.
Examples beyond registration
| Area | Weak measurement object | Better workflow | Why it is better |
|---|---|---|---|
| Checkout | Payment page | Complete checkout | Includes basket review, payment, confirmation, and exits |
| Mortgage | Document upload feature | Submit a mortgage application | Connects eligibility, documents, review, and submission |
| Retrofit planning | Recommendations screen | Create a retrofit plan | Captures assessment, choices, plan creation, and completion |
| Subscription | Pricing page | Choose and set up a subscription | Connects comparison, selection, account, payment, and confirmation |
The workflow does not need to capture everything about the user’s experience. It needs to capture the behaviour the team wants to understand.
What makes a workflow measurable
A workflow becomes measurable when the team can describe:
- what the user is trying to do
- where the workflow starts
- which steps show meaningful progress
- where the user can pause, fail, or leave
- what counts as completion
- what decision the measurement should support
This does not need to be perfect before measurement begins. It needs to be clear enough for product, design, engineering, analytics, and research to mean the same thing when they discuss the workflow.
Practical rule
Name workflows as plain-language verb phrases.
Prefer:
Submit a mortgage application
Create a retrofit plan
Choose and set up a subscription
Register for an account
Avoid labels that are too broad, such as “onboarding”, “engagement”, or “account area”. Avoid labels that are too narrow, such as “click continue”, unless that specific interaction is the behaviour being investigated.
A good workflow sits between a broad journey and a tiny interaction. It is large enough to describe user progress and specific enough to be measured.
Key takeaway
If the workflow is unclear, the measurement will be unclear too.
Start by naming the behaviour the user is trying to complete. Once the boundary is clear, the measurement work becomes less ambiguous.