Authoring Workflows

The following video shows you how to author workflows in Flow. The Voice Over transcript is also provided below. You can skip to any section in the video using the chapters feature.

Please note that in order to be able to author workflows, your Mira account must be set as either an "Admin" or "Owner" role. Learn more about roles and permissions.

The Mira Web Portal supports the latest Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge browsers. Please ensure you use one of these browsers.

 

1. Navigating To The Flow Tool 

The Mira Web Portal is where you will author and publish workflows like a forklift pre-start safety checklist for operators on-the-job (example). Please note, only users set up as admins or owners will be able to create workflows.

After successfully logging in, we are presented with the dashboard of the Mira Web portal. The Flow Tool can be selected from the app launcher in the upper right corner.

 

 

2. Setting Up A Collection

Once in Flow, we are presented with a couple of options in the side navigation. To create workflows, we will first set up a Collection. We will look at Archives and Reports later.

• Collections allow you to organize workflows, and provide limited access so that only required frontline workers are able to access their relevant workflows. 
• To create a collection, select the new button, provide it a unique name—we’ll name this example “Acme Site Pre Start Checklists”.

 

3. Restricting Access

When a collection is set as public, all workflows in the collection are available to all operators in the organization with a Mira account. More often, a Collection can be restricted by teams, so that only operators on a specific team at a specific site can access the set of workflows relevant to them.

As this forklift safety inspection checklist is to be used to track the condition of equipment at a specific plant, we are going to toggle on restricted access as shown. 

 

 

4. Adding Teams

Now, we can add the "Acme Site" team, so those users can access the workflows in this collection.

Operators who are not in this team will not be able to access this workflow when they log in. Learn more about creating teams.

 

 

5. Editing Collections

If a collection’s privacy settings need to be changed from private to public or the teams with access, we can simply edit as shown.

 

 

6. Setting Up A New Workflow

With the Collection now set up, we are going to create a new workflow.

Select “new” and then “Workflow” from the dropdown. The other option here is to create a folder. This is helpful if we expect our workforce to use multiple workflows within the same Collection, in which case grouping using a folder hierarchy further organizes workflows.

For this example, we are going to go ahead and create a Forklift Pre Start Checklist- a workflow typically run on a daily or per shift basis to ensure that the forklift is safe for operational use.

 

 

7. Naming A Workflow

We are going to add Forklift Pre-Start as the title of this workflow.

This name is what will be displayed to an frontline operator accessing the workflow within the Collection they have access to through the Mira headset or the Flow phone application.

 

 

 

8. Creating Steps -” Build” Step Type: Basic

Workflows consist of multiple steps which are created by selecting the “add new step” function as shown. Each new step that is created is initially defaulted to a “basic” step type.

Basic step type is one of 5 available dropdown templates found under the “Build” tab on the right, that will appear when a step is selected. Each step type determines the input options that are presented to the field operator on a given step when they run the workflow in the headset or a mobile device.

A basic step type provides info without requiring input from an operator. For example, steps in a simple work instruction manual where just guidance is being provided.

 

 

9. Creating Steps - “Build” Step Type: Number Input

As we have a fleet of forklifts in our plant, the first step will ask the field operator to enter the forklift id.

For steps that require digits to be input, we are going to create a new step and select the number input option via the dropdown. 

We are going to add "Enter Forklift ID" as the title and the following description “Enter the forklift ID that is located on the left-back bumper of the forklift”.

 

 

10. Creating Steps - “Build” Step Type: Yes/No Input

For step two, we are going to require that the operator does a visual check to see if the forklift is free of any fluid leaks.

We will create this step as a question, so that we can narrow down the required response to a simple “yes” or “no”. 

We will input the question into the step title: “Do you see any fluid on, underneath or around the Forklift?”

Then, from the Build drop down we will select the Yes/No Input. This will present the operator using the Mira headset or Flow mobile app with the option to select Yes, or No in order to complete this step.

 

 

11. Creating Steps - “Build” Step Type: Multiple Choice

We will come back to what to do if there is a fluid leak later. First, if there is no fluid leak, we would like the operator to move onto the next step - step three - in the checklist, which is to check that the Forklift is operational.

We will first input the question to the operator: “Are the following functions working?”

In the step details section, we will add more detail, and input the : “Raise the mast, tilt & side shift. Check the horn, reversing buzzer, window wipers, and washers. Select from each below if functioning, or “None are functioning” if none of the operations are functional.

We could create a separate step to check the status of each function individually, but thanks to the multiple choice step type, we are able to include all of these into one step to reduce the number of steps needed.

We will select “Multiple choice” from the step type, and then input each function as follows: “Mast functional”, “Tilt & Side Shift functional”, “Horn functional”, “Reversing Buzzer functional”, “Window Wipers functional”, “Washers functional”, “None are functional”.

 

To enable more than one multiple choice question to be selected, we will go ahead and select the “multiple selections” toggle.

 

 

12. Creating Steps - “Build” Step Type: Compliant/Non Compliant

We will now use the last step type from the “Build” tab dropdown - compliant/non compliant - in order to document whether the Forklift is both safe and in working condition to use, or whether it fails the check and needs to be pulled out of operation and repaired.

We will create two further steps - steps 4 and 5 - using this Step type.

The first we will create as a new, optional step only shown to the operator if they select “Yes” to the step asking if there are any noticeable fluid leaks in step 2. We will add the conditional logic later, but first we will just create the step.

Let’s add a new step, and call it “Safety Concerns”.

In the body description, we will add: “A fluid leak indicates a possible issue with the Hydraulic, Engine Oil, Fuel, or Coolant. Please mark this step as non-compliant if you believe the leak represents a safety concern with using the Forklift. This will end the checklist and not continue with an operational check. Otherwise, mark as compliant and you will continue to the next step to check functions”. 

 

 

We will now go ahead and create the compliance/non compliance step 5,  to follow the step the operator takes to check the functions of the forklift.

For this compliance step, we will call it “Operational State”

We will ask the operator “based on the operational functions previously tested, if the forklift is not in an operational state, mark as non compliant. Otherwise, mark as compliant. Both options will end this workflow.”

 

 

13. Creating Steps - Photo Attachment Required

At every step, it is possible to require an image to be captured during completion of the workflow. This can be set as one or multiple images, and can be required on any step type.

For this forklift pre-start checklist, we are going to instruct the operator to capture an image of the Forklift ID to also confirm they were at the forklift when completing this checklist. 

 

 

We will also enforce the operator to capture a  photo of the leak if they answered yes. We will create a basic step - step 6 - called “Please take photo of leak”, and hook it up with conditional logic later so operators will be taken to this step only if they noted a leak in step two, and therefore need to capture a photo if there is a leak.

To enforce that the operator cannot proceed without capturing an image, we must toggle the “require photo attachment” option on.

 

 

Operators may still attach photos to steps that do not require a photo attachment.

 

14. Creating Steps - Adding A Reference Image

At every step, it is also possible to add a reference image to help support the operator and provide additional context as to what is being asked of them. This can be set as one or multiple reference images. The operator will be able to cycle through these images in their headset or via the Flow app on their iPhone.

For this workflow, we will include a reference image of a forklift’s different parts to help support the functions check in step three, as follows.

 

 

15. Adding “Actions” -  Conditional Logic

Now that we have created all our steps and the associated content, we will go ahead and use the “Actions” tab to configure the flow logic that will determine the sequence of steps, based on selections made by the operator. 

The order of steps may look strange for now, but with conditional logic, the actual order an operator follows won’t always be linear. The Path tab on the left side panel will help with this process, and we will cover this later. 

First, let’s go back and set up the Yes/no input step logic on step two, which requested an operator to do a visual check for fluid leaks. If an operator answers “yes”, we would like them to be taken to step 6 to capture a photo of the fluid leak. Therefore, we will select “Actions”. 

 

 

Actions at each step will always default to “Go to next step”. We are going to select this default field and select “Condition”, so that we can set some conditions based on the answer given.

Now, we are going to select the empty “if” tab, and select “this step” as the step to apply conditions to. Under the subsequent empty “is” tab, we will select “Yes” to signify the condition to apply if the operator detects a leak.

We will then select the “Then” tab, select “jump to step”, and select “step 6: Please capture photo of the leak”. We will leave the “Otherwise” tab alone, as if the operator doesn’t select Yes - which means they have selected no - then we would like them to move on to conduct the operational check.

 

 

We will now follow this diverted sequence to step six, where we will ensure we route the workflow to an outcome after detecting a leak. So under step six, we will select the “actions” tab, and select “Jump To Step” from the tab displaying “When Someone Completes this Step”. We will select “step 4: Safety Concerns” from the dropdown.

This means that an operator will now be prompted to make a safety assessment based on the leak, prior to conducting an operational check of the Forklift.

 

 

We will now follow the workflow back to step four. When we open the “Actions” tab, we will see it is already set as “Compliant”,  based on the step type used in authoring. Our goal here is if an operator decides there is a safety risk due to the characteristics of the leak - for example, if the leak emits a smell of fuel - they may select this as “non compliant”, which will then end the checklist and they will discontinue before the operational check. So under the field requiring an action if the step is non compliant, we are going to select “End Workflow”.

If the operator does not believe the leak is a safety hazard - for example a small amount of liquid is dripping from the window washer - we would like them to select “compliant” and continue to the operational check.Therefore, under the action titled “In all other cases”, we are going to select “Jump To Step”, and step 3: “Are the following functions working?”.

 

 

We are now going to round out the workflow from step three onwards, as now all operators - whether they detoured to further steps due to answering yes to leak in step two and answered compliant to the safety assessment, or continued to this step after answering no on step two -  are going to follow the same remaining steps to the end of the checklist.

We would like all operators to check the functions of the Forklift, and then move onto step five to make an assessment on the operational state of the Forklift. Therefore, we will select the actions tab on step three, and select “jump to step”, then “Step 5: Operational State”.

 

 

On Step five, as a Compliant/Non Compliant step, the conditions have already been set, so as the final step in our checklist, we are simply going to select “End workflow” for both the action of marking as compliant, or marking as non compliant. 

 

 

This now ends our short pre-start checklist example. We have purposefully included the major available step-related features so that we could demonstrate what they do, and how to use them. In reality, you may not need to use this range of build types and conditions.

 

15. Viewing Path Summary

Now we can see the result, which is a checklist that is conditions based, and non-linear. The Flow authoring tool provides a “Path Summary” option on the left side which provides a visual flow of the authored checklist.

As you can see with this example, the path is non-linear, but may also be hard to follow because we created steps in a certain order to help sequentially introduce you to the features.

 

 

A more logical order could be organized, simply by leveraging the Move, duplicate and delete features (and making sure to modify those steps using "Go to next step" with "jump to next step + correct step).

 

 

16. Organizing Steps (move, duplicate, delete)

We can move steps so that the order arranges in a more logical way. To move a step, simply select the step and move up or down in using the up or down arrows. In this case, some of the “Go to next step” fields from the original order of steps were modified as a result of the re-arrangement, however all conditional logic and jump to steps selections will remain the same.

To duplicate or delete a step, simply select the step and then select either duplicate, or delete. Note that duplicated steps will inherit the original step’s conditional logic.

 

 

17. Saving Draft, Publish

We can go ahead and save the workflow at any point by selecting “save draft”. Drafts will not be made public to operators using the Flow application on a device.

Publishing a workflow to a user with a headset or Flow app requires Owner permissions. This is to help build a quality control step into the publishing process. An owner can select “save and Publish” to make the workflow available to any teams with access to the collection. 

 

18. Editing, Moving, Deleting, Archiving Workflow

A workflow can be opened for editing, or moved, or archived by selecting the workflow from within the Collections view as follows. A workflow can only be deleted if it is a draft. Otherwise, it will be moved to the Archive section of the Flow Tool, accessible via the left side menu below Collections, as shown.