ux-design - product flow before pixels

Use this skill when the product has to be understandable and usable, not just attractive. The output should make the user path clearer, reduce unnecessary decisions, and define states that survive real use.

What This Skill Can Do

• Map core user journeys, task paths, branching flows, and recovery paths.
• Define information architecture, navigation, labels, content groups, and page/screen inventory.
• Design onboarding, activation, checkout, signup, forms, settings, dashboards, command palettes, and internal workflows.
• Specify empty, loading, error, permission, success, stale, retry, resume, and audit states.
• Audit an existing UI for usability, hierarchy, conversion, repeated-use friction, accessibility risks, and missing states.
• Hand a compact UX decision brief to platform skills so visual design does not erase the product job.

Step 1 - Identify the job and user mode

Before designing screens, state the smallest useful context:

• Primary job: what the user is trying to finish.
• User mode: first-time, returning, power user, admin, buyer, creator, operator, or support.
• Frequency: one-time, occasional, daily, or high-volume repeated use.
• Risk: low-risk browse, reversible edit, money/data/security impact, or destructive action.

If any of these are unclear and materially affect the flow, ask one short question. If the answer is easy to infer from the request, infer it and continue.

Do not interrogate the user with a product-strategy questionnaire before helping. The skill should make useful assumptions, name them briefly, and move.

Step 2 - Map the flow

Write the minimum useful path:

1. Entry point
2. First meaningful action
3. Required decision
4. Feedback after action
5. Success state
6. Recovery path when something fails

Prefer fewer screens when the user is trying to finish one job. Prefer separate steps when the user is making risky, costly, or hard-to-reverse decisions.

Step 2.5 - Produce the UX decision brief

Before visual design or code, write a compact brief. Keep it short enough to pass into another skill:

UX decision brief
- Job: ...
- User mode: ...
- Frequency/risk: ...
- Pattern: ...
- Primary action: ...
- Secondary actions: ...
- Core path: entry -> action -> feedback -> success
- Recovery path: ...
- Required states: empty, loading, partial, error, permission, success, long-running
- Handoff constraints: ...

This brief is the contract. The platform skill may change visual treatment, but it must not erase the chosen job, action hierarchy, state coverage, or recovery path.

Step 3 - Design the states

Every production UI needs these states:

• Empty: what the user sees before data exists.
• Loading: what changes while the system is working.
• Partial: some data exists, some is missing.
• Error: what failed, why it matters, and the next action.
• Permission: what is blocked and how to request access.
• Success: what happened and what the user can do next.
• Long-running: progress, cancellation, retry, and resume behavior.

Do not ship only the happy path.

For public demos and generated proof projects, include at least one non-happy state in the visible UI: an empty state, blocked permission, failed sync, queued job, retry panel, stale data banner, or partial result. This makes the output feel like a real product instead of a polished poster.

Step 4 - Reduce cognitive load

Apply these rules:

• Put the next action where the user's eye already is.
• Use one primary action per surface.
• Group by task, not by database object.
• Prefer progressive disclosure over dense first screens.
• Keep labels concrete: "Invite teammate", not "Manage".
• Make defaults safe and visible.
• Keep destructive actions separated, confirmed, and undoable when possible.
• Make repeated actions faster than first-time actions.

For high-frequency tools, optimize scan speed, keyboard flow, saved filters, bulk actions, and stable layout. For consumer onboarding, optimize motivation, trust, and the shortest path to first value.

Step 4.5 - Match the product type

Use the product type to decide what "good UX" means:

Product type	Optimize for	Avoid
SaaS dashboard	fast scanning, saved filters, drilldowns, clear priority, visible operational thesis	marketing-page spacing, decorative cards, hidden filters, generic CRM furniture
CRM/admin/internal tool	repeat speed, bulk actions, auditability, permissions, domain-specific task language	oversized empty space, playful copy, modal chains, interchangeable labels
Creative/editor tool	canvas focus, tool discoverability, undo/redo, stable panels	layout shifts, buried controls, destructive defaults
Marketplace/ecommerce	trust, comparison, price/shipping clarity, recovery	surprise costs, forced account creation, vague stock states
Onboarding/setup	first value, motivation, resumability, skip paths	long forms before value, fake progress, no return path
AI agent/tool run	plan preview, progress, artifacts, retry, stop/resume	invisible work, ambiguous completion, no trace of outputs

If the request sounds like a real product people will use repeatedly, bias toward operational density and predictable navigation. If it is a one-off marketing page, bias toward clarity, brand memory, and conversion path.

Step 4.6 - Load a contextual pattern brief

If the product type clearly matches one of these contexts, read the matching brief before choosing the final UX pattern:

Context	Read
Agent/tool run, background automation, long-running export/import	../../references/ux-patterns/ai-agent-run.md
SaaS dashboard, CRM, admin panel, internal tool, support queue	../../references/ux-patterns/operational-dashboard.md
First-run setup, trial activation, import/setup flow	../../references/ux-patterns/activation-onboarding.md
Checkout, paywall, pricing, upgrade, plan comparison	../../references/ux-patterns/checkout-upgrade.md
Editor, builder, canvas, creative tool, IDE-like surface	../../references/ux-patterns/editor-canvas.md

Use a brief only when the context fits. If no brief fits, proceed from the product type table and the user's actual constraints.

The brief should influence the UX decision brief, especially:

• Pattern
• Primary and secondary actions
• Required states
• Recovery path
• Handoff constraints

Do not copy a referenced app or blindly apply a pattern because it is common. A shipped screen is evidence that a real product team used a decision, not proof that it is best for every product.

Step 5 - Choose the UX pattern

Pick one pattern and name it before visual design:

Need	Pattern
First run	Guided setup with skip/resume
Complex creation	Wizard with review step
Frequent operations	Command surface + saved views
Data-heavy work	Master/detail + filters + bulk actions
Monitoring	Dashboard with priority stack and drilldown
Settings	Searchable grouped settings + inline validation
Checkout/signup	Short form + transparent cost/risk + recovery
Collaboration	Activity timeline + comments + ownership
AI/tool execution	Plan preview + progress + artifacts + retry
Public demo/proof project	Product-specific job + proof surface + one non-happy state

If two patterns fit, pick the one that reduces the riskiest failure mode. For example, choose a wizard over a single dense form when errors are costly, but choose command surface + saved views for repeated internal operations.

Step 6 - Hand off to UI

After the UX shape is clear, route to the platform skill:

• Web visuals: ../web-design/SKILL.md
• Windows visuals: ../windows-design/SKILL.md
• Apple visuals: ../apple-design/SKILL.md
• Android visuals: ../android-design/SKILL.md
• Cross-platform translation: ../cross-platform-design/SKILL.md

Pass the UX decisions into that skill as constraints. Do not let visual direction erase task flow, state coverage, or platform idioms.

When a contextual pattern brief was used, include its name in the handoff constraints so the platform skill knows which product behavior must survive visual design.

UX audit checklist

Before final delivery, check:

1. Is the primary job obvious in the first screen?
2. Can a new user reach first value without reading documentation?
3. Can a returning user repeat the core task faster?
4. Are empty, loading, error, permission, and success states defined?
5. Is there one clear primary action per surface?
6. Are risky actions confirmed, separated, or undoable?
7. Do form errors appear near the fields they describe?
8. Does the layout support scanning, not just looking good in a screenshot?
9. Does navigation match the user's mental model?
10. Is the next step clear after every action?

If any answer is no, fix the flow before polishing visuals.