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The UXDL Workflow

From product intent to a behavioral contract that can be reviewed, handed off, tested, and maintained.


End-to-End Workflow Diagram

Flowchart
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The canonical 9-stage UXDL product development lifecycle workflow.

The 9 Lifecycle Stages

  • 1. Create or Import: Start from your current context (Canvas creation or UXDL import).
  • 2. Interpret: Identify what the requirement establishes and what edge-cases remain unclear.
  • 3. Model: Declare observable behavior using Screens, States, Actions, Relations, and Slices.
  • 4. Review: Use Canvas for spatial overview and Document view for requirement reading.
  • 5. Validate: Structural validation verifies graph integrity; Contextual linter highlights product flow gaps.
  • 6. Handoff: Hand off exact Slices or addresses rather than raw 50-page prose docs.
  • 7. Implementation: Engineering builds the feature using technical architecture and SDD tools.
  • 8. Verification: Automated test suites verify implementation against declared UXDL addresses.
  • 9. Maintain: When product behavior changes, update UXDL and re-run validation checks.

Role-Based Responsibilities

UXDL aligns responsibilities across team members without duplicating effort:

  • Product Managers — Own product intent, acceptance criteria, and Slice definitions.
  • UX Designers — Validate spatial interaction flows and attach Figma frame links to screen metadata.
  • Software Engineers — Receive addressable behavioral contracts and create SDD technical implementation plans.
  • QA Engineers — Map automated Vitest, Playwright, or Cypress test targets to UXDL relation addresses.
  • AI Coding Agents — Query MCP server for exact slice addresses before emitting code modifications.