An example of a hifi workflow that defines a specific interaction

In the last half of the decade we started noticing a trend at ZURB. Sitemaps started to disappear in a lot of our work and, in its place, we started using workflows instead. It turns out, workflows are more specific than sitemaps and map to actions a particular user will take through a website or application. Also gone is the idea that you can capture the core benefits/functions in just one diagram.

An example of a lofi workflow that roughs out a simple interaction

Using workflows over sitemaps also makes it easier to prioritize important actions in the system— something that's useful for establishing measurable metrics, solid business goals, and a defined feature set to implement. Workflows help keep the actual work in perspective, while sitemaps tend to hide the engineering costs behind a structure that doesn't explain the value of the components and pages.