The work aims to explore the design needs of users at different stages of flow and rethink the functions and appearance of the product, so as to guide users to enter the flow state more smoothly, improve the user experience, and enhance the usability of the product. Through non-participatory observation and in-depth interview methods, the user's behavioral patterns and usage needs were investigated deeply. From the perspective of flow theory, the experience elements of users at different stages of flow experience were analyzed and extracted and applied to the design strategy of public intelligent express cabinets. The AHP hierarchical analysis method was used to calculate the weight values of each indicator between the target layer, the criterion layer and the solution layer, respectively, to guide the design practice of public intelligent express cabinets. The TOPSIS comprehensive evaluation method was used to evaluate the design scheme and select the best design scheme. According to the order of importance, three intelligent express cabinets were designed, and the optimal scheme was selected by TOPSIS comprehensive evaluation method. The design method that integrated multiple theories was conductive to reducing the subjectivity and one-sidedness of the design scheme evaluation. By the innovative design strategy based on flow theory, the core needs of users can be explored more deeply and the method is conducive to improving the user experience and is suitable for the design of public intelligent express cabinets. At the same time, it also provides theoretical guidance for the selection and evaluation of product design schemes for other public service facilities.