Settings & Account Management

Overview

Settings are visited rarely and under a specific goal ("turn off that email," "delete my account") — so findability beats aesthetics, and destructive actions must be impossible to trigger by accident yet never hidden from users who need them. Organize by the user's mental model, not your org chart or database schema.

When to Use

• Building a settings/preferences area for web, iOS, or Android
• Adding account security flows: email change, password change, 2FA, active sessions
• Designing delete-account, delete-workspace, or any irreversible action
• Adding data export (GDPR/CCPA portability)
• Not for: in-context controls that belong next to the content they affect — a document's sharing settings live on the document (see flow-sharing)
• Not for: first-run onboarding preference pickers

The Proven Flow

1. Entry
   • Avatar or gear icon, top-right on web; profile tab or gear on mobile.
   • Landing view shows the settings nav with the most-visited section (Profile/Account) already open — never an empty "pick a category" splash screen.