Why Workflow Design is Highly Underrated

Many startup products tend to tamper with existing customer workflows and behavior.

Except, the majority of startup founders have no clue about how their proposed product experience affects that behavior.

✅ When Tundra Angels invests, we often analyze startups betting on the workflow that will prevail.

For the startups that Tundra Angels invests in, we believe they have the escape velocity to overcome the behavioral friction in the market. But sometimes, if we pass, we may in fact be concluding that the existing, current state of the art will continue to prevail.

The startup can have the best product in the world but complete lose by a bad workflow decision. ✅ 

I as an investor ultimately care about workflows because it’s in observing current customer workflows and the startup’s proposed workflows that I assign a likelihood of change to that situation. I make a judgment call on whether or not that startup has enough escape velocity to overcome the behavioral gravity to gain traction and to win in their market.

The product that tends to win is the one that the customer can integrate into his or her workflow the easiest.

That’s why I don’t like the word “disruption” of Silicon Valley lore. Successful companies tend to not disrupt anything. They actually tend to be completely accommodating to the existing workflows! 😀 

As a founder, I lacked a framework to help founders understand where their product sits and to help founders map where their product experience sits from a behavioral change perspective. So, I created such a framework 😀. Here we go.

Workflows, Milestones, and Steps

Workflow

The end to end process that the user goes through. The full transaction loop.

Milestones

Milestones are moments in a workflow that unlock the next sequential milestone. I use the word unlock intentionally because often times there is data needed or communication needed to move to the next milestone in the workflow.

Steps

The action steps taken that are required to accomplish each milestone.

👇 Here is the key👇