Top Tasks for UX Design: How and why to Create Them
UX storytelling, persuasive communication, stakeholder alignment, UX presentation skills, design leadership
“Your design fails if users can’t complete their top tasks. Not your colour scheme. Not the animation speed. The real measure is simple: can people do the 10 or fewer things that matter most?
Top tasks focus your entire team on what’s essential. Other features can exist, but they must never block or distract from those core tasks.
In this guide, I’ll show you exactly how to create a Top Tasks list using stakeholder interviews, user surveys, analytics, and field studies – plus a free template to prioritise what really matters.”
Top Tasks for UX Design: How and Why to Create Them
Top Tasks are a list of 10 or fewer things that users must be able to do with your design to be successful. If people can’t do them, the design will fail – no matter how beautiful it looks.
Why Top Tasks Work
They focus the team on what’s truly important.
Other tasks and features can exist, but they should never negatively affect the Top Tasks.
They help maintain balance in research and serve as a guide for heuristic evaluation.
How to Create a Top Task List (Step by Step)
Talk to internal stakeholders – interview or survey them to understand business goals and assumptions.
Combine user research methods:
Field studies
User interviews
Analytics analysis
A survey with both open and closed‑ended questions
Form a hypothesis list – often around 100 potential tasks.
Survey users (and possible users) – ask them to pick their top 10 from that list.
The most selected tasks become your Top Tasks list.
Put Top Tasks to Work
Share the list with your entire team.
Post it in team spaces, near desks, and in any key place where work happens.
Use it as a constant reminder of user vision.
Top Tasks Management Model
Focus on what really matters – “the top tasks” – and defocus on what matters less – “the tiny tasks”.
Free UX Audit Template
Your next UX audit, already structured
Download the same UX audit template I use with clients: heuristic checklist, severity scoring, and a ready-to-share report structure.
