Frustrated sessions and frustrated users. We all have them. They churn, leave negative reviews and bad word-of-mouth. Studies even show 88% of users are less likely to return after a bad experience, and 13% will tell at least 15 people about their frustration.

But here’s the problem: instead of seeing these users as valuable sources of insight, we often just try to appease them when they make themselves known. We rarely proactively seek out and learn from those who are struggling silently.

To diagnose and fix user frustration, you need product analytics that goes beyond surface-level metrics.

In this article, I’ll show you how to identify those frustrated users and, more importantly, how to address them for product growth and customer retention.

Are you overlooking user frustration?

I’m gonna be honest with you—frustrated users don’t always announce themselves. It’s easy to miss them in the flood of other sessions and data, or maybe it’s just a case of not paying close enough attention.

Pay attention to these red flags that could signal user frustration:

• A surge in support tickets: If you see support tickets piling up suddenly, this suggests that the product is not meeting user expectations for ease of use and functionality.
• Resource center overload: A spike in visits to your help docs or FAQ pages is often a sign that users are hitting roadblocks they can’t navigate alone.
• High engagement but no conversions: When new users are active but don’t convert, it’s a clear indicator that something in your onboarding flow or product experience is not what users expect.

So, the real question is, are you doing enough to spot user frustration? Ask yourself these few questions:

• Are you actively gathering user feedback? Frustrated users are often your most honest critics. Are you creating spaces for them to share their pain points?
• Do you have systems to track frustration? Do you use any tools for tracking frustration, like funnel drop-offs, surveys, session replays, etc.?
• Are you analyzing user behavior to find pain points? Are you digging into drop-offs, repeated actions, or other signals to uncover where users hit roadblocks?

If your answers to these questions leave you uncertain, you should rethink your approach to customer feedback. Now, we will discuss methods for identifying user frustration.

Where should you look for user frustration?

Frustration costs businesses more than you might think. But you don’t have to let it. Stay with me as I guide you through the key places where user frustration often arises—and how to spot it before it hurts your bottom line.

1. Session replays

Session replays are the most helpful and obvious for identifying those ‘frustrated sessions’ where users are clearly struggling (i.e. rage clicks), even if they don’t explicitly complain.

For example, you can use session replays to see cases where users try to perform actions that aren’t part of the core functionality, like broken links on specific web pages.

In Userpilot, you can filter the list of sessions to include certain activities and watch these replays to see what could have been the problem. In each of these sessions, you can even:

• Skip inactivity
• Add note
• Mark bugs
• Share clips

It makes collaboration easy for both tech and non-tech members of the team.

2. User surveys

Frustrated users might not say much, but when they do, they often point straight at what’s broken.

Sometimes the most telling signals come from those passive surveys where you’re not directly asking for feedback. It’s when a user is so frustrated that they actually take the time to file a complaint.

Beyond those formal complaints, you can also pick up on signs of frustration from other survey metrics such as:

• Low ratings in our Customer Effort Score (CES) or Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) survey.
• Detractors – those users who are unlikely to recommend us – in our Net Promoter Score (NPS) surveys.

In Userpilot, you can easily segment Detractors to understand what the issues have been for these users. In the image below, analyzing their feedback reveals recurring themes like ‘The interface is too slow’ or ‘Feels like a waste of time and money’, helping you pinpoint the exact issues causing their frustration.

Take Unolo, for example. They implemented Userpilot’s NPS surveys to understand how users interacted with key features. The valuable insights they gathered revealed specific pain points, allowing them to make targeted improvements.

Our average churn rate, month over month is around 3%. And after we started using NPS, I’m not sure that if this is all about NPS, but we definitely reduced our churn rate by 0.5 to 1%.
– Subhash Yadav, Product Marketer at Unolo

Learn more about how they found success by using our NPS survey here!

So to fully leverage user surveys to look for frustration signs, it’s best to implement surveys at key moments in the user journey: right after completing onboarding, interacting with a new feature, or encountering a friction point.

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3. Drop-offs in user flows

Sometimes, frustration doesn’t show up in direct feedback. It’s hidden in the user sessions where users abandon workflows without explanation. When many users leave a task incomplete, it signals that something isn’t working in their journey.

Here’s where user path analysis and conventional funnel analysis prove invaluable. Mapping out a funnel highlights the key steps users take to complete an action, whether during onboarding or at checkout. Tracking drop-off rates at each stage helps identify where users disengage—this is where friction is likely at its peak.

This is what Beable has done. Using Userpilot’s funnel report, they track student engagement with their content and even break down the results by customer sites.

4. Support tickets

Support tickets often hold more insights than just the problems users report. They’re like breadcrumbs, leading you to the areas where users are stuck or frustrated.

Take a closer look at closed tickets, especially complex cases. These often reveal recurring frustrated sessions or unexpected workarounds users create to get things done. For example, users might find ways to bypass “required” fields in your forms, signaling the need to rethink your input validation system.

It’s also worth noting the patterns. Are there specific times or workflows where support requests spike? These clusters can highlight breaks in your product experience that need attention.

Are you learning enough from frustrated sessions?

So, I’ve talked about how to collect data on frustrated sessions through things like user surveys, drop-off analysis, and session replays.

But here’s the thing: it’s not enough to just collect the data. I often see teams get stuck in a reactive mode, simply addressing immediate user complaints without going for the root causes.

To get the most out of this data, I like to go beyond surface-level analysis. Here are the two techniques I’ve found particularly helpful for understanding user frustrations:

• Create “failure logs”: This isn’t about bug reports. It’s about documenting instances where users successfully completed their tasks despite the software, not because of it. For example, from the funnel analysis above, you can segment the drop-off users, watch their session replays, and document all the alternative ways users are doing their jobs with external help.
• Look for “friction clusters”: Pay attention to times of the day or specific sequences where users frequently switch between your software and other tools. These frequent context switches often indicate a workflow break that users have learned to “live with” but shouldn’t have to. For example, we learned that our users often have to go back and forth with user feedback and session replays for complementary insights. So, Userpilot released this user profile feature where you can see all survey answers and session replays of a specific user/company.

What is the approach to addressing user frustration?

As you learn from the frustrated sessions, simply fixing the most vocal complaints isn’t enough.

To reduce user frustration, I believe it’s more sustainable to leverage these insights for real and meaningful product changes. It isn’t just about quick fixes but continuous improvement and communication.

Here’s what I like to do:

• Prioritize the fixes: Instead of just patching up every little complaint, I focus on the issues that will have the biggest impact on the largest number of users.
• Involve users in the solution: Don’t just tell users you’re fixing things – involve them! Run beta tests, gather feedback on proposed solutions, and even create a communication channel for users to send ideas.
• Communicate the changes: When we successfully address a major source of frustration, I make a big deal out of it, like creating an in-app notification. This shows users that their feedback matters and that we’re constantly striving to improve their experience.

Catch all the frustrated sessions with Userpilot!

Frustrated users don’t just leave—they take potential revenue with them. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

With Userpilot, you can do more than just patch problems. You’ll get to use session replays, in-app surveys, and advanced analytics to pinpoint friction points, understand why users are dropping off, and make data-backed improvements that increase retention and revenue.

Book a demo today and see why over 500 teams trust Userpilot to transform their user experience and drive retention.

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