# User Journey Creator > Design and document bespoke, high-quality user journeys for digital products. Use this skill whenever the user wants to map out, critique, redesign, or create a user journey, onboarding flow, feature walkthrough, or any end-to-end experience within an app or product. Trigger on phrases like "design the user journey", "map out the onboarding", "how should the user flow work", "create a journey for", "user journey for [feature/persona]", "review my onboarding flow", "what's the ideal journey for", or any time a user wants to think through how a person moves through a product — from first touch to repeated value. Also trigger when the user is working on retention flows, activation steps, aha moments, or progressive disclosure design. - Skill: `adnaanmhd/user-journey-creator` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add adnaanmhd/user-journey-creator` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/adnaanmhd/user-journey-creator/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: adnaanmhd (https://skillmd.com/u/adnaanmhd) - Updated: 2026-09-22 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/adnaanmhd/user-journey-creator --- # User Journey Creator A skill for designing bespoke, high-quality user journeys grounded in product craft principles. --- ## Core Philosophy Every journey decision must be evaluated against these 11 principles. They are **non-negotiable product quality bars**, not suggestions. ### The 11 Principles 1. **Bespoke to persona** — The journey must be tailored to who the user actually is. A B2B enterprise buyer and a solo developer need radically different paths. Generic journeys fail. 2. **Minimal time to value** — The user should experience a meaningful "win" as fast as possible. Every step that doesn't accelerate value delivery is a candidate for removal. 3. **Interactive guidance** — Don't dump instructions on the user. Guide them *as they do*. Tooltips, contextual hints, inline walkthroughs — the journey teaches through doing. 4. **Predictable** — Users should always know what's happening, what happens next, and how to reverse course. Surprise is the enemy of trust. 5. **Near-zero learning curve** — If someone needs to "figure it out", the design has failed. The interface should communicate its own usage. 6. **Progressive disclosure** — Surface only what the user needs right now. Complexity is revealed as they're ready for it — never front-loaded. 7. **Repeatable value** — The journey doesn't end at activation. It must be designed so value compounds with each return visit. The loop, not the landing. 8. **Low cognitive load** — Minimize decisions per screen. Minimize reading. Minimize thinking. One screen, one job. Every extra choice is friction. 9. **Forgiving errors** — Users will make mistakes. The product must forgive gracefully: clear error states, easy undo, confirmation before destructive actions. Design for human imperfection. 10. **Satisfying task completion** — Completing an action should *feel* good. Micro-animations, success states, confirmation moments. The emotional punctuation of UX. 11. **Eliminate anxiety** — Proactively answer the questions users haven't asked yet: "Is this saving?", "Did that work?", "What does this do?", "Can I undo this?" Silence creates doubt. --- ## Workflow ### Step 1: Define the Persona & Context Before designing anything, extract: - **Who is the user?** (role, technical sophistication, motivation) - **What are they trying to accomplish?** (job-to-be-done, not feature usage) - **What's the product?** (type, stage, primary value prop) - **What's the entry point?** (direct link, organic discovery, referred, etc.) - **What does success look like?** (the "aha moment" — the moment they *get* the value) Ask the user for these if not provided. Don't proceed with a generic persona. --- ### Step 2: Map the Journey Structure the journey as a sequence of **stages**, each with: ``` Stage Name ├── User Goal (what they're trying to do) ├── Product Action (what the product does / shows) ├── Principle Check (which of the 11 principles apply here) ├── Friction Points (what could go wrong or confuse) └── Delight Opportunity (where to exceed expectations) ``` **Standard Journey Stages** (adapt as needed): 1. **Discovery / Entry** — First encounter with the product 2. **Sign-up / Onboarding Gate** — Account creation or access 3. **First-Run Experience** — The first meaningful interaction 4. **Aha Moment** — The specific action that delivers the core value 5. **Habit Formation** — First return visit / repeated use 6. **Power Usage** — Advanced features unlocked progressively 7. **Advocacy / Expansion** — Sharing, upgrading, inviting others Not every product has all stages. Trim to what's relevant. --- ### Step 3: Apply the 11-Principle Audit After mapping, audit each stage against the 11 principles. For each stage, ask: - Does this minimize time to value? - Is there any unnecessary cognitive load? - What happens when the user makes a mistake here? - Is there a moment of delight we're missing? - Are we disclosing too much, too soon? - Does the user know what happens next? - Have we pre-answered any anxiety-causing questions? Flag every violation clearly. Don't paper over problems. --- ### Step 4: Output Format Deliver the journey as a **structured document** with: 1. **Persona Summary** (2–3 sentences) 2. **Aha Moment Definition** (the north star of the journey) 3. **Journey Map** (stage-by-stage, using the format above) 4. **Principle Audit** (per-stage violations and recommendations) 5. **Priority Fixes** (top 3–5 highest-leverage improvements, ranked) 6. **Open Questions** (unresolved decisions the PM needs to make) If asked for a visual flow, produce a clear text-based flow diagram or suggest building one. --- ## Design Heuristics (Quick Reference) **On cognitive load:** - One primary action per screen - Labels over icons (unless icons are universally understood) - Default values wherever possible - Smart defaults beat blank states **On anxiety elimination:** - Auto-save with visible confirmation - Progress indicators for multi-step flows - Inline validation (not post-submit errors) - Tooltips on hover for anything ambiguous - Optimistic UI for fast-feeling interactions **On error recovery:** - Never dead-end the user - Undo > confirm dialogs (when reversible) - Confirm dialogs with plain-English consequences for destructive actions - Empty states are onboarding opportunities, not failures **On delight:** - Completion animations (subtle, purposeful) - First-success celebration (the first win deserves acknowledgment) - Progress bars that feel satisfying to fill - Personalization cues early ("Hi [name], here's where you left off") **On progressive disclosure:** - Start with the 20% of features that deliver 80% of value - Lock advanced settings behind "Advanced" toggles - Introduce features contextually (when the user needs them, not before) - Tooltips and empty states are the onboarding layer — not a separate tour --- ## Anti-Patterns to Call Out When reviewing a user's existing journey, explicitly flag these: | Anti-Pattern | Why It Fails | |---|---| | Feature dump on first run | Overwhelms, causes decision paralysis | | Required tutorial before use | High drop-off, patronizing to experienced users | | Irreversible actions without confirm | Destroys trust permanently | | Blank empty states | Missed opportunity to guide and activate | | Success states that don't exist | Value delivered without acknowledgment = no emotional anchor | | Multi-field forms upfront | Kills conversion at the top of the funnel | | Error messages that don't explain what to do | Users abandon instead of fixing | | Passive waiting (no loading state) | Anxiety-inducing, feels broken | | Features hidden behind discovery | Value locked away from the user | --- ## Sample Output Skeleton ``` ## User Journey: [Product Name] — [Persona Name] ### Persona [2–3 sentence description of who this user is, what they want, and their sophistication level] ### Aha Moment [One clear sentence: "The user feels the product's value when they first ___"] --- ### Stage 1: [Stage Name] **User Goal:** ... **Product Action:** ... **Principles Applied:** [list relevant ones] **Friction Risks:** ... **Delight Opportunity:** ... [Repeat for each stage] --- ### Principle Audit Summary [Table or list of violations found per stage] ### Priority Fixes 1. [Highest leverage fix] — [Why] 2. ... ### Open Questions - [Decision that needs to be made before implementation] ``` --- ## Notes for Claude - Always push back if the persona is vague. A journey designed for "users" is a journey designed for no one. - If the user gives you an existing flow to review, start with the Principle Audit before suggesting anything new. - Flag when a journey is trying to do too much too fast — this is the #1 mistake in early-stage products. - When in doubt, recommend *removing* a step rather than adding one. - Prioritize ruthlessly. Not every fix matters equally. Rank by user impact, not implementation effort.