Map AI into real user workflows

Users live in flows, not screens. Design for the whole journey before you design the copilot.

Instructions

Good AI design starts with workflow design. Before you write a single line of prompt logic or choose a model, you need to understand exactly how your AI fits into the way users actually do their work. The more precisely you can map this, the better every subsequent decision becomes — from what inputs to accept, to what outputs to produce, to where the handoffs need to happen.

The common mistake is designing the AI in isolation. Builders focus on what the AI will produce and forget to think carefully about what the user does before and after. This leads to products where the output is technically impressive but practically awkward — it lands at the wrong moment, in the wrong format, or requires the user to do extra work to make use of it. Good workflow design means thinking abo...