A journey design tool · Now live

Design human-agent-system journeys with rigour.

NOVA is a free journey design tool for mapping agentic AI journeys across all 21 dimensions of the HAI framework. Dropdown-enforced taxonomy, multi-journey projects, ZIP export with AI skill files — running entirely in your browser.

No sign-up Browser-local CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 EU AI Act aware
Built for

Five teams, one source of truth.

Agentic AI lives at the intersection of disciplines. NOVA gives every team a shared language and a shared canvas so handoffs stop dropping context.

PM

Product

Specify agent behaviour at every step before engineering writes a line of code.

UX

Design

Map user emotion, action, and pain points alongside agent reasoning — in one canvas.

Eng

Engineering

Document MCP servers, A2A handoffs, memory tiers, and protocol layers in their proper context.

CX

Customer Success

Design lifecycle journeys where trust evolves and autonomy grows across stages.

Legal

Compliance

Tag every step with EU AI Act risk classification and required human oversight.

What's inside

Everything you need to map an agentic journey.

A canonical 21-dimension taxonomy. Two journey modes. ZIP export with AI skill files — ready to build with Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, or any AI tool.

01

21-dimension matrix

Every step covers Human, Agent, and System layers — 9 fields are dropdowns enforcing the canonical HAI taxonomy.

02

Markdown export

One click downloads a ZIP bundle: your journey spec as a structured `.md` file plus two AI skill files — drop them into Claude, ChatGPT, or Cursor and build immediately.

03

Multi-journey projects

One project can hold many journeys with sub-tabs — perfect for products spanning multiple lifecycle stages.

04

Graph & matrix views

Switch between visual journey graph and tabular matrix view depending on the work — same data, two lenses.

05

EU AI Act tagging

Classify each step against EU AI Act risk tiers — Prohibited, High-Risk, GPAI, Minimal — built into the matrix.

06

Protocol-aware

Specify MCP, A2A, AG-UI per step — designed for the modern agentic protocol stack.

07

Browser-local storage

Your projects live in your browser. No accounts, no servers, no analytics — privacy by architecture.

08

2 or 3 layer journeys

Choose per project: 2-layer (Human + Agent) for lean UX work, or 3-layer (+ System) for full HAI methodology. Toggle anytime.

The HAI framework

Three layers, one matrix.

Every agentic journey involves three perspectives running in parallel — what the human sees, how the agent reasons, and what the system enables. The HAI framework structures all three at every step.

Layer 01

Human

What the person is trying to accomplish, how they feel, and where they get stuck.

  • Step-Level Goal
  • User Task
  • User Action
  • User Emotion
  • User Pain Points
Layer 02

Agent

How the AI reasons, what mode it operates in, and how it handles failure.

  • Trigger / Cue
  • Agent Mode (Assistive / Advisory / Autonomous)
  • Agent Goal
  • Agent Tone & Type
  • Multi-Agent Handoff
  • Goal Failure Response
  • Failure Handover Trigger
Layer 03

System

What infrastructure enables, constrains, and governs the agent's behaviour.

  • Data Layer Needs
  • Data Freshness & SLA
  • Protocol (MCP / A2A / AG-UI)
  • Memory Tier
  • Compliance & Governance
  • EU AI Act Classification
Two modes, one framework

Step or Stage based.

The same three layers, applied at two scales of time. Choose the mode that matches the question you're trying to answer.

User Journey 01 / 02

Step-based design

Task & product

For specific tasks inside a product. Onboarding, checkout, support resolution. Where agent behaviour at each click matters and failure has immediate, localised consequences.

Scale
Min → Hrs
Sign-up Configure First task Confirm
For
Product, UX, Engineering teams
Vocabulary
User Task, User Action, Step-Level Goal
Failure scope
Localised — affects one task
Customer Journey 02 / 02

Stage-based design

Lifecycle & CX

For full customer lifecycles. Awareness through retention. Where trust evolves, channels shift, memory accumulates, and failure affects long-term relationships.

Scale
Days → Mo
Awareness Consider Purchase Retention
For
CX, Marketing, Customer Success teams
Vocabulary
Customer Action, Customer Emotion, Stage Outcome
Failure scope
Strategic — affects the whole relationship
Pre-filled templates

Six starting points, fully populated.

Each template ships with all 21 dimensions filled in across every step. Edit, extend, or strip back — they're a starting point, not a constraint.

Specify the journey — then let AI build the product

How NOVA works.

NOVA is where you specify the human–agent–system journey with rigour. Every export is a ZIP bundle — your journey spec plus two AI instruction files that tell any model exactly how to prototype, implement, or design from the spec.

01

Start a journey

Open a blank canvas in User or Customer Journey mode, or modify one of the pre-filled templates as a starting point.

02

Design the layers

Fill in the 21 dimensions across Human, Agent, and System layers. Dropdowns enforce HAI taxonomy; free text everywhere else.

03

Export as a bundle

One click downloads a ZIP — your journey spec as a structured `.md` file, plus two AI skill files that tell any model exactly how to read and build from it.

04

Build with any AI tool

The export is a ZIP bundle — your journey spec plus two ready-to-use AI instruction files. Drop them into Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, or Gemini and the AI already knows how to prototype, code, or design from your spec.

A look inside

Built for design rigour, not slideware.

The full NOVA canvas — clean, fast, and honest about what's specified versus what's still open.

Banking Customer Lifecycle Graph Matrix A · Andy P. Export Journey 1 + CUSTOMER · STAGE-BASED 4 STAGES · EU AI ACT: HIGH-RISK STAGE 01 Enquiry HUMAN Customer enquires about products EMOTION Curious, cautious AGENT ASSISTIVE GOAL Surface product info TONE Efficient SYSTEM PROTOCOL MCP EU AI ACT MINIMAL STAGE 02 Account Opening HUMAN Customer opens account with KYC EMOTION Anxious, committed AGENT ADVISORY GOAL Guide KYC steps HANDOFF Sequential SYSTEM PROTOCOL MCP + A2A EU AI ACT HIGH-RISK STAGE 03 Daily Use HUMAN Customer transacts, manages money EMOTION Confident, in control AGENT AUTONOMOUS GOAL Detect anomalies HANDOFF Event-Driven SYSTEM PROTOCOL MCP + A2A EU AI ACT HIGH-RISK STAGE 04 Loyalty HUMAN Customer renews, refers, expands EMOTION Loyal, advocate AGENT AUTONOMOUS GOAL Maximise CLV MEMORY All three tiers SYSTEM PROTOCOL A2A EU AI ACT HIGH-RISK
Backed by published research

Built on the HAI whitepaper.

NOVA operationalises the Human-Centred Agentic Intelligence framework — the first design methodology purpose-built for agentic AI journeys. The framework is published, peer-referenced, and openly licensed.

21
Dimensions per step
3
Layers in parallel
2
Modes — step & stage
7
Failure types
5
Failure states
Sub-journeys per project
Common questions

Frequently asked.

Is NOVA free to use? +
Yes. NOVA is free and open under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. No account, no payment, no installation. Open NOVA and start designing immediately.
Where do my projects get saved? +
Projects save to your browser's localStorage. Nothing leaves your machine — no servers, no analytics, no cookies. The downside: clearing your browser data deletes them, and projects don't sync across devices. Export to Markdown to keep a copy outside the browser.
Why Markdown export instead of JSON or PDF? +
Markdown is the most portable structured format that's also human-readable. The exported `.md` file opens in Notion, Obsidian, GitHub, VS Code, or any plain text editor. It's easy to version-control, easy to diff, easy to share, and easy to convert to PDF, HTML, or anything else if needed.
What's the difference between User Journey and Customer Journey mode? +
User Journey is step-based — a sequence of discrete tasks inside a product (sign up, configure, use). Failure scope is localised, time horizon is minutes to hours. Customer Journey is stage-based — phases of a long relationship (awareness, consideration, retention). Failure scope is strategic, time horizon is days to months. The same three layers (Human, Agent, System) apply in both modes.
Can I share a project with collaborators? +
Not yet — there's no real-time collaboration in this prototype. The recommended workflow is to export to Markdown and share the file (e.g. via Notion, Google Drive, GitHub). Each collaborator can import the values back into their own NOVA session if they want to edit.
Does NOVA actually run agents or call MCP servers? +
No. NOVA is a design tool, not a runtime. The dropdowns for MCP, A2A, agent modes, etc. document your intended architecture — they don't execute it. Use NOVA to specify, then build the agents in your platform of choice (Claude Agent SDK, LangGraph, CrewAI, Vertex AI Agent Builder, etc.).
Can I use NOVA's output for EU AI Act compliance documentation? +
The Markdown export includes EU AI Act risk classifications per step and is structured for traceability — useful as design-time documentation under Articles 9, 13, and 14. It's not a substitute for a full conformity assessment, but it's a strong starting point for the documentation that high-risk systems require.
Can I customise NOVA or extend the framework? +
The HAI framework is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, which permits sharing with attribution but not commercial use or derivative works without permission. Reach out to the author if you want to adapt the framework for your organisation's specific context.

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