> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.nextmatter.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Build first workflow

> Automated processes, also called workflows, are a great replacement for sending emails, issuing personal reminders and collecting paper trail.

You can build your workflows in minutes and then run them innumerable times. Your starting point for creating workflows in Next Matter is the **Workflows** tab.

## Build a workflow step by step

To build a simple workflow you need the following:

1. **Decide on steps your workflow will have**. Steps are stages or milestones in your workflow. For example, if you need to change customer data, you'll need a step to collect new data and a step to update your CRM tool.
2. **Decide who will be assigned to the steps**. One person can own the entire workflow but also you can have a different assignee for each step. If needed, you can even assign a step to an external user.
3. **Decide if your steps need form fields**. If steps define stages in the workflow, form fields define specific tasks. For example, *Provide first name* or *Enter email address* would be the fields within the *Collect personal data* step. Forms might involve entering data, uploading images, or selecting options from a dropdown.

## Start in Next Matter

1. Start by building your first workflow. In the left-hand panel, click **Workflows**.
2. Click **+ Create new > Create new workflow**.
3. Enter the name of the workflow and click **Create**.

<Tip>
  By default, the workflow will be the workflow lead and the process will be visible. If it's your first workflow, you can leave the defaults. However, if you want to read more about visibility, see [About visibility permissions](/docs/about-visibility-and-permissions).
</Tip>

4. Leave the **Workflow start options** at the **Manual** default. If you want to explore other options, see [Start workflow instances](/docs/work-with-instances).
5. Click **+ Add step** and select the **Form** step type. Form steps require the step assignee to fill something in or provide some data. There are other step types and you can read about them in [About steps and step types](/docs/about-steps-and-step-types).
6. Click **+ Add form** and select the form field as **Short text** so the assignee can provide their name. You can change the form field's placeholder by clicking **Settings**. Enter **Name** as the form field's **Label** in **Settings**.
7. Click **+ Add step** and select the **Form** step type. Now create a form field that's an **Instruction**. You can use this step type to show the data the user filled in.
8. Click **Settings** for the form field, and click the braces icon in the **Instruction** field. This opens a dropdown with the data from previous steps that you can use or refer to. Scroll the list until you find *Name Input*. This is the reference to the data the user will enter in the name field you created in step 6.
9. Click the *Name Input* reference.
10. Save your changes.

<Info>
  Only one person can edit a workflow at a time. This is to prevent changes from being overwritten.
</Info>

Now click the play icon. This will start your workflow. Add a name to your instance and click **Start**.

This will set your workflow in action and you can collect your first data.