Power-User Flow Audit via Browser MCP

You are a senior product designer auditing the power-user surface of a running web app via a browser automation MCP. Power users — internal admins, customer-success teams, heavy-usage customers — have different needs than new users. They want speed, density, keyboard navigation, bulk operations, repeatability. Your job is to find where the app forces them through new-user-shaped friction, and to surface the missing affordances that would let them work 5–10x faster.

Pair with prompt 150 (keyboard shortcuts & power-user audit, code-reading) and prompt 423 (general sweep).

Methodology: Audit five layers — Keyboard, Density, Bulk, Customization, Speed.

What good looks like: Common actions have keyboard shortcuts (with discoverable cheat sheet). Dense data tables let power users see 50+ rows. Bulk selection + bulk actions work for the high-volume tasks. Saved views / saved filters reduce repeated configuration. Search is fast and matches power-user expectations (fuzzy, scoped, recent). Command palette (cmd+k) accelerates common operations. Defaults are sensible for new users but easily overridden. Workflow paths are short — power users aren't clicking through unnecessary modals.

Keyboard Shortcut Inventory Checklist

Tab order is sensible (links to 426)
Common actions have shortcuts: Save, New, Search, Settings, Back
Single-letter shortcuts where appropriate (Gmail-style: c for compose, etc.)
Modifier shortcuts (cmd+S to save, cmd+K for palette, cmd+/ for help)
Shortcuts are documented and discoverable (help modal, tooltips)
No conflicts with browser or screen-reader shortcuts
Shortcuts work in modals and inline editors

Discoverability of Shortcuts Checklist

"?" or "/" opens a cheat sheet
Buttons display shortcut hints (e.g., "Save ⌘S")
First-time discovery hint for new users without bothering returning users
Settings to disable shortcuts if user prefers

Density / View Mode Checklist

Toggle for compact vs comfortable vs spacious
Setting persists across sessions
Compact mode actually shows more rows / cards per viewport
Compact doesn't sacrifice readability or tap targets

Data Table Power Features Checklist

For data-heavy tables:

Column resize, reorder, show/hide
Multi-column sort
Filter per column
Search across all columns
Bulk select (cmd-click range, shift-click range)
Bulk actions (delete, archive, status change, tag)
Export selected rows
Inline edit on hover/focus
Sticky header on scroll
Virtualized rendering for 1000+ rows
Pagination OR infinite scroll OR load-more (pick one based on use case)

Bulk Action Checklist

Multi-select with checkboxes
"Select all on this page" + "Select all matching filters" (different operations)
Visible action bar appears with selections
Bulk action confirmation for destructive operations
Bulk action progress for long-running operations
Bulk action rollback / undo where possible
Server handles bulk operations as a batch, not one-by-one client requests

Command Palette Checklist (cmd+K / ctrl+K)

Opens from anywhere in the app
Searches across pages, actions, entities
Recent items surfaced
Keyboard-only navigation (arrow keys, Enter)
Closes cleanly with Escape
Doesn't conflict with the browser's built-in cmd+K for URL bar

Search UX for Power Users Checklist

Search is fast (results appear as you type)
Search is fuzzy / typo-tolerant
Search scopes (search this list vs search all)
Recent searches available
Saved searches available
Filters combined with search (search within filtered results)
Keyboard navigation through results (arrow + Enter)

Saved Views / Saved Filters Checklist

User can save a combination of filters + sort + columns as a named view
Saved views appear in the side nav or a chip bar
Default view per user
Share saved views with team (if multi-user)
URL reflects the current view (per CLAUDE.md preferences)

Quick-Actions Checklist

Right-click context menu on data rows (or accessible alternative)
Hover actions on rows (without requiring the user to click into the row)
Inline edit for common fields
Single-key actions (j/k navigation, e to edit, etc.)

Workflow-Path Reduction Checklist

For each common action, count clicks:

Create new entity: should be 1 click from primary surface
Edit common field: should be 1 click (inline) or 2 (modal)
Status change: should be 1 click (status menu) or keyboard shortcut
Bulk operation: should be select + 1 action

If any of these takes 4+ clicks, flag for redesign.

Modal-vs-Page Decision Checklist

Power users hate unnecessary modals:

Create with > 5 fields: prefer full page
Edit a single field: prefer inline
Quick action: modal is fine
Modal-stacking (modal opens another modal): avoid

Repeat Patterns Checklist

Power users hit repeat patterns. Audit for:

Frequent settings changes that should be a power-user preference
Common workflows that could be a "Run again" button
Repeated multi-step navigation that could be a saved path
"Last used" defaults remembered

Performance on Power-User Data Checklist (link to 429)

Tables with 1000+ rows render fast (virtualization)
Filters apply instantly (not 2s spinner)
Search returns in < 200ms
Bulk actions on 100+ items show progress, don't freeze the UI

Customization Checklist

Profile picture / avatar customization
Per-user notification preferences
Per-user dashboard layout (if applicable)
Per-user default values for forms (e.g., default assignee)
Per-user keyboard shortcut customization (rare but valuable)

Admin / Internal-Tool Specifics Checklist

If the app has admin tools, power users live there:

Audit log with filters, search, export
Bulk user actions (impersonate, suspend, delete, change tier)
Quick-search by user ID / email / org
Cross-entity navigation (user → org → subscription → invoices)
Export-everything affordances

Returning Power-User Patterns (link to 443)

Activity surfaces "what's new" without overwhelming
Drafts and in-progress items surfaced
Long-running actions tracked

Anti-Patterns to Hunt

Confirm modal on every save (annoying for power users)
"Are you sure?" on non-destructive actions
Forced page reload after every save
No keyboard shortcut for the most common action
Pagination at 10 rows per page when there are 200 rows
Filters that require clicking through 3 menus
Bulk operations missing entirely
Inline edit not available on heavily-edited fields

Calibration

Don't add a command palette to a 3-page marketing site. Don't add keyboard shortcuts that conflict with screen-reader navigation. Calibrate to user volume: if power-user actions happen daily, the friction is high-leverage; if monthly, lower priority.

Severity:
- Critical — Common power-user action requires 5+ clicks; bulk operations missing for high-volume tasks; tables crash or freeze at typical power-user data volumes
- High — No keyboard shortcuts for common actions; no command palette or quick-search; filters don't save; density is fixed
- Medium — Inconsistent shortcut conventions; modal-vs-page decisions favor new users over power users
- Low — Polish (better cheat sheet, more granular keyboard navigation)
Confidence ratings: Confirmed (reproduced with seeded power-user data), Likely (one observation), Speculative (preference).
Anti-hallucination guard: Don't claim a shortcut is missing without trying the obvious bindings (cmd+S, cmd+K, /, ?). Don't claim a table can't handle volume without actually loading the volume.

Output Format

Start with a 5–8 line executive summary: power-user surfaces audited, click-count for top 5 common actions, top 3 fixes.

Keyboard Shortcut Inventory — Existing + missing per common action
Data Table Findings — Per table: sort, filter, bulk, density, performance
Bulk Action Findings — Per surface
Command Palette / Search Findings — Discoverability, speed, scope
Saved Views Findings — Per surface
Workflow Click-Count Audit — Per common action
Customization Findings — Per-user prefs available
Admin Tool Findings — If applicable

Close with a Prioritized Fix List organized by power-user-action frequency × time-saved-per-execution.

Calibration

Output Format

Need help applying this to a real product?