Utility Mermaid Diagrams: Storevine Campaign Flow

Scenario

Storevine’s growth PM needed a visual for the PRD showing how a merchant’s email campaign moves through the approval and send workflow. Stakeholders kept asking what happens between clicking “Schedule Send” and the email actually going out. A text description was not sticking, so the PM used the mermaid diagrams skill to create a flowchart with the planning worksheet approach.

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Prompt

/mermaid-diagrams

I need a flowchart showing the Campaigns email send approval workflow. When a merchant clicks "Schedule Send," the campaign goes through content validation, compliance checks (CAN-SPAM), optional manager approval (for merchants on the Enterprise plan), and then queues for send. If any check fails, the merchant gets sent back to the editor with specific errors. I want to show this in the Campaigns PRD.

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Output

Mermaid Diagram Planning Worksheet

1. Diagram Purpose

What I’m showing: The decision path a campaign follows from “Schedule Send” through validation, compliance, optional approval, and final send queue — including failure paths back to the editor. Audience: Engineering leads and merchant success stakeholders reading the Campaigns PRD. Where this will appear: Campaigns PRD, “Send Workflow” section.

2. Cardinal Rule Check

• This shows branching, relationships, or flow that a list would flatten
• A numbered list or table would NOT communicate this more clearly

There are three decision points (content validation, CAN-SPAM compliance, manager approval) and a conditional branch (Enterprise plan check). A list would hide the branching and the two different failure return paths.

3. Diagram Type Selection

Selected type: Flowchart Why this type: Multiple decision diamonds with branching outcomes and a conditional gate — flowcharts handle this precisely. Considered alternatives: Sequence diagram (would show participants but obscure the decision logic); state diagram (focuses on lifecycle states, not the process flow).

4. Node Inventory

Node/Entity	Role/Label	Notes
schedule	Schedule Send	Entry point — merchant action
validate	Content Valid?	Checks for empty fields, broken images
compliance	CAN-SPAM Compliant?	Unsubscribe link, physical address, subject line
planCheck	Enterprise Plan?	Conditional gate for approval
approval	Manager Approval?	Enterprise-only review step
queue	Send Queue	Campaign enters delivery pipeline
editor	Return to Editor	Failure path with specific errors
sent	Sending	Terminal — handoff to email service

Total node count: 8 (within flowchart limit of 12)

5. Draft Mermaid Code

%% MEANING: Campaign send approval workflow for Storevine Campaigns PRD
flowchart TD
    schedule["Schedule Send"]
    validate{"Content Valid?"}
    compliance{"CAN-SPAM Compliant?"}
    planCheck{"Enterprise Plan?"}
    approval{"Manager Approved?"}
    queue["Send Queue"]
    editor["Return to Editor"]
    sent["Sending"]

    schedule --> validate
    validate -- "Yes" --> compliance
    validate -- "No" --> editor

    compliance -- "Yes" --> planCheck
    compliance -- "No" --> editor

    planCheck -- "Yes" --> approval
    planCheck -- "No" --> queue

    approval -- "Approved" --> queue
    approval -- "Rejected" --> editor

    queue --> sent

    editor -. "Fix & resubmit" .-> schedule

6. Validation Checklist

• Renders without error (tested in mermaid.live)
• Cardinal rule satisfied — a list or table would not communicate this more clearly
• Not a linear sequence — has branching, relationships, or hierarchy
• Labels with spaces/special characters are quoted
• Special characters escaped where needed
• Node count within type limit (8 of 12)
• Colors are accessible (using default mermaid theme, no custom colors)
• Color is never the sole differentiator — shapes and labels distinguish elements
• Has descriptive title and surrounding context in the PRD
• %% comments document the diagram purpose

What this communicates: The diagram reveals that campaign sending is not a single action — it passes through up to three gates depending on plan tier. The dotted “Fix & resubmit” line back to the start makes it clear that failures are recoverable, not terminal. Enterprise merchants can immediately see their additional approval step, and engineering can see that the compliance check is independent of plan tier.