Skip to content
Tallyfy

Decision with waiting step

Full-seat members

Decision with waiting step

Section titled “Decision with waiting step”

This pattern requires three automations, not two. It handles “Is something ready?” - either proceed immediately or wait until it is.

The pattern

Section titled “The pattern”
  • YES - skip waiting, go directly to the next step
  • NO - show a waiting step, then continue when it’s done

Most people create two automations (one for YES, one for NO) and stop there. That’s the mistake.

Example: payment confirmation

Section titled “Example: payment confirmation”

Say you have three steps:

  1. Decision step - “Has the customer paid?” (YES/NO field)
  2. Waiting step - “Hold until payment received” (hidden by default)
  3. Confirmation step - “Record payment evidence” (hidden by default)

All three automations

Section titled “All three automations”

Each one is a visibility action that shows or hides a step.

Automation 1 - YES path (customer already paid):

If

  • Payment is Yes

Then

  • Hide step
    Apply to
    Hold until payment received
  • Show step
    Apply to
    Record payment evidence

Customer paid? Skip the wait, go straight to confirmation.

Automation 2 - NO path (customer hasn’t paid yet):

If

  • Payment is No

Then

  • Show step
    Apply to
    Hold until payment received
  • Hide step
    Apply to
    Record payment evidence

Haven’t paid? Show the waiting step. Hide confirmation for now.

Automation 3 - Waiting complete (the one people forget):

If

  • Hold until payment received is completed

Then

  • Show step
    Apply to
    Record payment evidence

That’s the critical piece. When the waiting step finishes, it reveals the confirmation step.

Common mistake

Without automation 3, the confirmation step stays hidden forever after the waiting step completes. The NO path dead-ends.

Why you need all three

Section titled “Why you need all three”

Here’s what happens with only two automations:

ScenarioWhat happens
YES selectedWorks fine - confirmation step appears
NO selectedWaiting step appears, confirmation hidden
Waiting step completedNothing! Confirmation stays hidden

Automation 3 closes the loop on the NO path.

Section titled “Related articles”
Get in touch
About Tallyfy