I used to think improving a user flow meant reducing the number of screens.

7 steps → 5 steps → 3 steps. Done. Better UX.

Except that’s not always true.

A 3-step flow can feel harder than a 7-step one if every screen asks the user to make a complicated decision.

Now, when I review a flow, I’m less interested in the number of screens and more interested in the decisions we’re asking the user to make.

I look for things like:

→ Are we asking for information we already have? → Can two related decisions happen together? → Are we making users choose something they don’t understand yet? → Can the system provide a sensible default? → Did we add a confirmation because the user needs it—or because we were afraid to remove it?

Sometimes the answer is to remove a screen.

Sometimes it’s to add one so a complicated decision becomes easier.

That’s why I’ve stopped asking:

“How can I make this flow shorter?”

And started asking:

“How can I make this flow require less thinking?”

Fewer screens can look efficient.

Fewer unnecessary decisions feel efficient.

How do you decide when a step in a flow is actually necessary?