Adobe - Hva Flow Map
A visual framework to align stakeholders and developers around the customer journey in Adobe’s engagement and retention site.
Context
Adobe’s engagement and retention site offered tutorials and High-Value Assets (HVAs), but the customer journey was fragmented across devices, apps, and sign-in states. Teams lacked a unified way to see how users moved through these flows, which slowed improvements and caused misalignment.
Outcome
The flow maps provided a shared source of truth for developers and creative directors, presented at Adobe’s quarterly all-hands. They became the foundation for rethinking workflows across the engagement and retention group, helping teams prioritize fixes and coordinate changes across multiple apps.
Prototype Map in action
Flow Map in Action
The prototype visualizes how customers engage with tutorials and assets across Adobe Creative Studio apps. It captures variations by device (desktop, mobile, tablet) and sign-in states, giving teams a complete view of possible pathways.
By making these flows visible, the map helped identify breakpoints where users abandoned tasks and allowed stakeholders to compare alternatives in real time. This transformed abstract discussions into actionable, visual decision-making.
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Adobe’s engagement and retention site lacked a clear view of how users discovered and consumed HVAs. Navigation was fragmented, resources were difficult to access, and teams had no shared visibility into end-to-end flows. This misalignment slowed decision-making and delayed improvements.
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The flow map’s primary value was for internal teams — developers, creative directors, and product managers. It gave them a single, reliable framework to collaborate, prioritize, and refine workflows that ultimately improved the customer experience.
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I served as UX Designer and Flow Map Lead, defining the mapping framework, leading design decisions, and aligning cross-functional stakeholders.
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Stakeholders: Creative Director Managers, Creative Directors, Senior Product Manager
Collaborators: Associate Creative Director for UX Design, Myself
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3 Months (Q2 - Q3)
Research
To build flow maps that accurately represented the customer journey, I combined behavioral data with multi-device testing and stakeholder collaboration.
Behavioral Tracking: Using Google Analytics and Hotjar, I followed customer paths end-to-end, identifying key drop-off points, abandoned flows, and recurring pain points. This gave us visibility into where users struggled to access or complete tutorial actions.
Multi-Device Simulation: I tested flows on desktop, iPhone, and tablet, uncovering platform-specific friction that would have been invisible if only one device type was considered.
Stakeholder Engagement: Maps were continuously reviewed with product managers and creative directors. Their feedback shaped iterations and ensured the final version addressed both customer needs and internal priorities.
Together, these methods created a comprehensive, validated view of the customer journey. The insights not only highlighted critical breakpoints but also provided developers and stakeholders with a shared, reliable framework to guide decisions and future improvements.
Cross-team alignment: Flow map validated by devs and creative directors in live reviews.”
Design
It all begins with an icon and inspiration. Massimo Vignelli’s 1960s New York subway map. “design was just half the story. Their approach was to try to figure out what was wrong and, in effect, fix the broken system.”
— Alexander Tochilovsky,
To simplify the complexity of Adobe’s engagement and retention site, I designed the flow map using a subway-map metaphor: clean, color-coded lines that represent different apps, devices, and actions.
Colors distinguished Adobe applications at a glance, reducing cognitive load for stakeholders trying to parse multiple flows.
Icons represented devices (desktop, mobile, tablet), ensuring the map highlighted cross-platform friction points.
Shapes served as shorthand for actions, making the flow easily scannable without lengthy labels.
This design language gave developers and creative directors a fast, intuitive way to trace journeys and spot breakpoints. Instead of debating abstract descriptions, teams could visually compare flows, align on pain points, and prioritize fixes with clarity.
Reference/ other maps
Alongside the main flow map, I created device- and app-specific variations to capture unique friction points (e.g., mobile-only drop-offs, differences between Illustrator and Photoshop tutorials).
These supporting maps gave developers a granular view of where pain points occurred and validated that the consolidated map reflected real user behaviors across contexts.
Moving Forward
The flow maps quickly became a foundation for cross-team alignment after being presented at Adobe’s quarterly all-hands. Developers, product managers, and creative directors now rely on them to visualize workflows across apps and identify where improvements will have the greatest impact.
“Watching in awe as Martin mapped out the whole dang Lightroom in-app experience, definitely helpful for the photo squad for any future projects” - Kendall Plant, Creative Director Manager
“Definitely one of the best and most useful tool for team, very detail-oriented...I highly appreciate Martin's effort and attention to detail which transformed our entire user workflow” - Karthikeyan D, Adobe Senior Product Manager
“This UX flow map is incredibly user-friendly and visually appealing. The way Martin used color, icons, and spacing makes it easy to understand and navigate.” - Allison McGrath, Associate Creative Director for Creative Cloud at Adobe
Looking ahead, the maps will continue to evolve as a living framework, adapting to new scenarios (such as users without required apps or outdated OS versions). Regular updates will ensure they remain a trusted resource for stakeholders, helping Adobe teams refine journeys and deliver a seamless customer experience.