LAST UPDATED: JUNE 2025
DevRev's
Workflow Engine
About
The Workflow Engine is a no-code builder that lets teams automate internal processes without middleware. With drag-and-drop logic, reusable blocks, and built-in integrations, it enables fast, scalable automation across support, ops, and product workflows.
Designed for clarity and control, it helps teams streamline tasks, reduce manual effort, and move faster with precision.
Details
Timeline
8 Months
My Role
Lead Designer
User Research
Usability Testing
Team
Shashank Singh PM
Shivam Budhia Eng
Satej Bidvai Eng
Pranay Varshney Eng
Umang Malik Eng
Impact
The Workflow Engine has become a mission-critical tool used by thousands of DevRev's customers globally.
The Workflow Engine runs over 33,000 workflows daily, with more than 4 million monthly executions and over 2.8 million total workflows created to date. It's powering 11 million+ automated operations across top organizations, with high-frequency usage of logic and ticketing steps.
Problems
Internal teams relied heavily on manual, repetitive tasks like ticket triage, escalations, and customer updates.
Each organization had unique operational processes, but existing tools offered rigid, one-size-fits-all workflows.
No unified system existed to automate tasks across product, support, and operations without engineering involvement.
Relying on middleware or stitching together tools created complexity, delays, and brittleness.
Business users lacked the flexibility and control to create, modify, or debug their own automations.
Getting Started
I set out to design a visual workflow builder that could meet the needs of fast-moving, cross-functional teams - without the complexity of traditional automation tools. The first step was to get the concepts clear, understanding rule builders and conditions.
For this, I decided to conduct a competitor analysis focusing on some of the most prevalent and well-known workflow engines and automation builders in the market, like Attio, Tray.io, Zapier, Microsoft BI, etc.
a snippet of the FigJam documenting the analysis - for each platform, I took screenshots of different parts of the user journey to compare how tasks were carried out on each of them.
After reviewing leading workflow and automation platforms, I began visualizing the foundational layout of our builder. I wanted the interface to feel intuitive yet powerful, segmenting the workspace into clear, functional zones.
An early structure helped define the spatial architecture of the product:
Area
Purpose
Key Features
Canvas
The central space where users construct and visualize their automation flows. |
- Drag & drop building blocks
- Node connectors (e.g. "+" button)
- Zoom, branch logic, playback, and flow animation
Node Library
Left-side panel providing the user with flow components and integrations. |
- Searchable list of available triggers, conditions, actions
- Third-party integrations
- Suggested templates
Properties Panel
|
- Dynamic configuration based on node type
- Form inputs like dropdowns, text fields, JSON views
Header
Global utility panel across the builder |
- Search, edit, save, and test actions
- System status & updates
Tools
Quick access to most frequent actions |
- Undo, redo, zooming in and out, duplication, etc.