Ever tried to follow a design review meeting and thought, “Are we talking about user flows or workflows?” You’re not alone. These two terms get tossed around like interchangeable buzzwords at a UX happy hour, but they mean very different things. Let’s sort this out, once and for all.
User Workflow vs. User Flow: What’s the Difference & Why It Matters
What Is a User Flow?
A user flow is a map of how a user interacts with your site or app to complete a goal. Think: click homepage, browse services, hit “contact us,” fill in the form, submit, boom done.
It’s all about what the user does. User flows help you plan experiences, streamline navigation, and spot UX hurdles before your audience rage-quits halfway through checkout.
What Is a Workflow?
A workflow, on the other hand, describes what happens behind the scenes. It’s the system of permissions, tasks, and approvals that govern how content or data moves through your platform.
With Concrete CMS, workflows are built-in. That means your draft article can go from junior editor to legal to marketing to final approval without someone yelling across the room, “Hey, did you publish that yet?” Because no one needs that kind of chaos.
Picture This
Let’s say you’re signing up for summer swim lessons.
-
User flow: You visit the parks and rec website, find the swim lessons page, fill out the registration form, click submit, and get a confirmation message.
-
Workflow: Your registration is routed to a staff member, who checks availability, confirms age group placement, and triggers an email with your class schedule and payment details.
One shows the user’s path. The other shows the system’s process.
Why Is “Workflow” More General?
Workflow is the Swiss Army knife of process terms. It covers user roles, permissions, content approvals, and task automation. It isn’t just about navigation — it’s about who can do what, when, and under what conditions.
Concrete’s permissions and workflows are great examples. You can set it so only your HR lead can publish policy pages, while your intern can draft them but not hit “go live.” That’s workflow in action. It’s flexible, layered, and has guardrails.
User flow, meanwhile, is usually a visual aid in UX design. Think of those tidy diagrams with arrows pointing from login screens to dashboards to cart pages. Super useful. Just a lot narrower in scope.
When Should You Use a Workflow vs. a User Flow?
Use user flows when:
- You’re planning a user’s path through a site or app
- You’re optimizing for conversions or sign-ups
- You want to eliminate friction in your navigation
Use workflows when:
- You need approval processes
- You’re managing user roles with different permissions
- You want to prevent accidents like “oops, I published the home page with Lorem Ipsum on it”
Let’s be honest. You need both.
If you’re using Concrete CMS, you get both mapped out for you. The workflow system takes care of process logic, while the CMS structure helps inform how a user moves through your site.
User Flow vs. User Workflow: Quick Comparison
| Feature / Focus | User Flow | User Workflow |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Maps how a user moves through a site or app | Defines how content or tasks are handled behind the scenes |
| Audience | UX designers, marketers | Content managers, admins |
| Example | Homepage → Services → Contact Form → Submit | Draft → Review → Approval → Publish |
| Visual Format | Flowcharts, journey maps | Process diagrams, permission trees |
| Tools Used | Figma, wireframes, whiteboards | CMS permissions, workflow builders |
| Primary Focus | User experience and navigation | Governance and content control |
Why This All Matters
Here’s the bit no one tells you: a gorgeous UX means nothing if the backend is a mess. And a locked-down publishing process is useless if users can’t even find what they need.
Understanding both workflows and user flows means you can build systems that are secure and user-friendly. You can plan your website so it looks great on the front end and functions beautifully on the backend.
It also means less yelling across departments and fewer late-night “why did this get published?” moments. That’s the real win.
TL;DR
- User Flow = The journey users take on your site
- User Workflow = The rules and approvals that power what happens next
- You want both working together like peanut butter and jelly (or oat milk and espresso, if that’s more your vibe)
Concrete CMS makes it easy to manage both. Want to see how? Dive into permissions and workflow features and start building smarter.
- StackExchange. (n.d.). What are the differences between user flows, task flows, and workflows? UX StackExchange. Retrieved May 30, 2025, from https://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/45405/what-are-the-differences-between-user-flows-task-flows-and-workflows
- Bakshi, M. (2024, May 22). Understanding user journey, user flow, flow diagram, and workflow. LinkedIn. Retrieved May 30, 2025, from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/understanding-user-journey-flow-diagram-workflow-mohit-bakshi-qdbfc
- Pandey, H. P. (2024, December 18). Difference between user workflows, task models, and user flows: A complete guide for UX designers. LinkedIn. Retrieved May 30, 2025, from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/difference-between-user-workflows-task-models-flows-complete-pandey-zjzfc
- Overflow. (2022, May 5). User flow vs. flowchart: Similarities and differences of two commonly mixed-up diagrams. Overflow Blog. Retrieved May 30, 2025, from https://overflow.io/blog/user-flow-vs-flowchart-similarities-and-differences-of-two-commonly-mixed-up-diagrams/
- UX Design Institute. (2024, December 27). How to master the design of user flows in UX (with examples). Retrieved May 30, 2025, from https://www.uxdesigninstitute.com/blog/design-user-flows-with-examples/