What Do the Shapes and Colours Mean?
Each shape in ProcedureFlow has a distinct meaning. It's important to know what each shape means so you can fully understand the process flows.
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When you see this shape, you DO something! The Action shape represents a direct action that must be taken (e.g. clicking a link, asking a question, advising a customer). The Action box is also used to set up the home page as “big buckets” to group related flows together, so users can easily find what they are looking for. |
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The Decision Diamond represents a choice and a “fork in the road.” Depending on the answer, you will follow a path and different set of steps.
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The Data Parallelogram represents information that you write it down because you’ll need it later! |
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The Backstory shape provides tips, help, and non-critical information that provide additional context and explanation that will help the user understand WHY they are doing something. |
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The End Point represents the end of the process; you’ve satisfied the customer’s inquiry. Usually, we link this to a “Close Call” or “End Call” flow with instructions on any final steps that must be completed such as making notes on the customer’s account or ticket. |
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Plain Text boxes have an invisible border. This allows you to put text on the flow and it blends into the page. |
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The Critical shape represents information that, if missed, could have a massive impact on the business or its customers. This should be built into the flows at the appropriate point in the process so there is no chance it could be missed by the user. |
A flow will also contain arrows between the shapes. These can be solid lines that tell you where to go next in the flow:
… or dashed lines that point to steps that are optional; you do not need to follow it to complete the task:
Tip To maintain ProcedureFlow’s simplicity and keep it user friendly and easy to use — something all our customers love — keep the usage of the shapes consistent. This allows you to direct your focus and brain power to where it really matters, the substantive content of the flows, instead of using it to decide which one of thousands of shapes or colors to use. Don’t worry! We have yet to find a process that can’t be mapped using only these seven shapes!