{"id":177945,"date":"2024-12-08T10:31:23","date_gmt":"2024-12-08T10:31:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/user-analytics\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T17:59:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T17:59:06","slug":"user-analytics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/user-analytics\/","title":{"rendered":"User Analytics: How Should You Do It?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s always a struggle to find one good article on user analytics that doesn&#8217;t only discuss the superficial. Most of them cover the benefits of tracking user behaviors or mapping user journeys but they miss the bottom line &#8211; how do you actually develop and implement a <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/user-analysis\/\">user analysis<\/a> strategy?<\/p><p>This guide skips straight to answering that crucial question, covering topics such as:<\/p><ul><li>What is user analytics?<\/li><li>Steps for conducting user analytics.<\/li><li>Common user analytics challenges to look out for.<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/product\/product-analytics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Analytics tools<\/a> to consider and other FAQs.<\/li><\/ul><h2 id=\"c6b81\">What is user analytics?<\/h2><p>User analytics involves tracking data to understand how users interact and <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/product-engagement\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">engage with your product<\/a> or other digital experiences. This helps uncover user behavior trends and pain points that can be used to inform improvements to <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/positive-user-experience\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">enhance the user experience<\/a>.<\/p><p>What&#8217;s more, user analytics enables product teams to <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/product-user-segmentation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">segment users more effectively<\/a>. This makes it easier to engage the right groups of users with <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/personalized-customer-experience\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">highly relevant and personalized experiences<\/a>.<\/p><h2 id=\"7vhuv\">How should you conduct user analysis?<\/h2><p>User analytics may look complicated, but it can be broken down into 5 simple steps. These involve defining specific questions, gathering relevant data, <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/what-is-data-driven-analysis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">selecting appropriate analysis methods<\/a>, testing hypotheses, and then continuously iterating. Let&#8217;s explore each step in greater detail below!<\/p><p>In case you\u2019re pressed for time, here\u2019s an infographic from the book Lean Analytics to help you decide where to start with user analytics (or any analytics process really).<\/p><figure class=\"image strchf-type-image regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/the-circle-of-life-for-analytical-startups_7f4cc8dbe078ec58f034a9ed7d9ec0fc_800.png 1x, https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/the-circle-of-life-for-analytical-startups_7f4cc8dbe078ec58f034a9ed7d9ec0fc_1600.png 2x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/the-circle-of-life-for-analytical-startups_7f4cc8dbe078ec58f034a9ed7d9ec0fc_800.png 1x, https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/the-circle-of-life-for-analytical-startups_7f4cc8dbe078ec58f034a9ed7d9ec0fc_1600.png 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/the-circle-of-life-for-analytical-startups_7f4cc8dbe078ec58f034a9ed7d9ec0fc_800.png\" alt=\"Circle of life for analytical startups\" \/><\/picture><figcaption>User analytics isn\u2019t a linear process, especially for startups. There are several paths you can take apart from the traditional \u201cwith data\u201d route, and you can always try to pivot if needed &#8211; Image source: Lean Analytics.<\/figcaption><\/figure><h3 id=\"ntcj\">Start with a question<\/h3><p>Start by figuring out why you&#8217;re diving into user analytics in the first place. Are you doing it just because everyone else is, or <strong>is there a focused question you&#8217;re trying to answer?<\/strong><\/p><p>If it&#8217;s the latter, then take the time to define your question properly. Be as specific as you can. This will help narrow down your analysis later on.<\/p><p>Here are some examples of well-defined questions you could target in your user analytics:<\/p><ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/how-to-improve-user-onboarding\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">User onboarding<\/a><\/strong>: Which steps in our onboarding process have the highest <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/drop-off-rate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">drop-off rates<\/a>?<\/li><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/feature-adoption-101\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Feature adoption<\/a><\/strong>: Which features are most popular among users in our premium plan versus the free plan?<\/li><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/new-user-retention\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">User retention<\/a><\/strong>: What are the common <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/user-activity-patterns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">usage patterns<\/a> of users who churn within the first month?<\/li><\/ul><h3 id=\"8js9v\">Decide how you collect and store data<\/h3><p>Once you know <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/goal-setting-frameworks-saas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">what your goal is<\/a>, <strong>the next step is figuring out the finer data collection details<\/strong>. This requires answering two key questions:<\/p><ul><li><strong>How<\/strong> are you going to get the data?<\/li><li><strong>Where <\/strong>are you going to get it?<\/li><\/ul><p>The answers to both these questions will differ based not only on your goal but also on your company size and stage. For instance, since startups don&#8217;t focus on solving existing well-researched issues, they&#8217;re more likely to need to start with deciding what events to track.<\/p><p>In contrast, existing SaaS companies typically already have data, especially if they deploy any user analytics tool that offers <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/userpilot-autocapture\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">auto-capture features<\/a> for <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/auto-capture\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">automatically recording all events<\/a>. So all that\u2019s left is identifying and labeling the relevant data sources for further analysis.<\/p><figure class=\"image strchf-type-image regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/events-labeled-events_26a3a19785cd2d6c6875557d91c1b886_800.png 1x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/events-labeled-events_26a3a19785cd2d6c6875557d91c1b886_800.png 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/events-labeled-events_26a3a19785cd2d6c6875557d91c1b886_800.png\" alt=\"Userpilot event labeling\" \/><\/picture><figcaption>Along with tracking events, you can also label captured events with <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/userpilot-demo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Userpilot<\/a>, customizing the labels to your needs.<\/figcaption><\/figure><h3 id=\"890k5\">Determine your user analysis methods<\/h3><p>Once you&#8217;re done collecting user analytics data it&#8217;s time to <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/product-analytics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pick an analysis method<\/a>.<\/p><p>There are various methods to choose from, and you can even <strong>use a combination of two or more <\/strong>depending on the original question you&#8217;re trying to answer.<\/p><p>Here are some of the most commonly used user behavior analysis techniques to know of:<\/p><ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/funnel-analytics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Funnel analysis<\/a><\/strong>: Tracks the steps users take toward a defined goal to identify drop-off points and <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/b2b-saas-funnel-conversion-benchmarks\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">optimize conversion rates<\/a>.<\/li><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/conversion-path-analysis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Path analysis<\/a><\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/user-journey-map\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Maps user journeys<\/a> to visualize how users navigate across your products, useful for uncovering patterns or bottlenecks.<\/li><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/cohort-analysis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cohort analysis<\/a><\/strong>: Groups users based on shared characteristics or user behaviors over time to assess retention or performance trends.<\/li><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-segmentation-analysis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Segmentation analysis<\/a><\/strong>: Categorizes users into distinct groups based on demographics, behavior, or preferences to better tailor their experiences.<\/li><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/survey-analytics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Survey analysis<\/a><\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/user-feedback\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Evaluates user feedback<\/a> to uncover customer motivations, pain points, and satisfaction levels for <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/qualitative-feedback\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">qualitative insights<\/a>.<\/li><\/ul><figure class=\"image strchf-type-image regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/cohorts-segments-a-b-testing-and-multivariate-analysis_bc3623832add5aa25ebcb79ab91621b6_800.png 1x, https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/cohorts-segments-a-b-testing-and-multivariate-analysis_bc3623832add5aa25ebcb79ab91621b6_1600.png 2x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/cohorts-segments-a-b-testing-and-multivariate-analysis_bc3623832add5aa25ebcb79ab91621b6_800.png 1x, https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/cohorts-segments-a-b-testing-and-multivariate-analysis_bc3623832add5aa25ebcb79ab91621b6_1600.png 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/cohorts-segments-a-b-testing-and-multivariate-analysis_bc3623832add5aa25ebcb79ab91621b6_800.png\" alt=\"Various user analytics techniques\" \/><\/picture><figcaption>Your goal will define what analysis method is best for you. So if your goal is to reduce churn, cohort analysis is suitable because it compares retention patterns and trends over time &#8211; Image source: Lean Analytics.<\/figcaption><\/figure><p>For instance, if your goal is to <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/how-to-increase-retention-rate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">improve retention<\/a>, you might choose cohort analysis. It enables you to see user retention rates across cohorts, easily highlighting the group with the highest rate. Next, within that cohort, you could compare <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/feature-usage-rate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">usage trends of different features<\/a> to discover the most sticky features.<\/p><figure class=\"image strchf-type-image regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/behavioral-cohort_1c1f62542f58e6d937058e73a2c4ed29_800.png 1x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/behavioral-cohort_1c1f62542f58e6d937058e73a2c4ed29_800.png 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/behavioral-cohort_1c1f62542f58e6d937058e73a2c4ed29_800.png\" alt=\"User analytics behavioral cohort\" \/><\/picture><figcaption>With <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/userpilot-demo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Userpilot\u2019s<\/a> cohort analysis, define core events, track user behavior, and monitor retention rates across user groups over time.<\/figcaption><\/figure><h3 id=\"djsnc\">Draw and test your hypothesis<\/h3><p>By this point, you&#8217;ll have some initial insights from your user behavior analytics. Use these to come up with possible hypotheses about how specific changes could improve user engagement or outcomes. The next part is testing your hypothesis, which you can do through <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/ab-testing-analytics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A\/B testing<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/multivariate-testing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">multivariate testing<\/a>, surveys, etc.<\/p><p>Continuing the above example, once you find the sticky features, you might be interested in seeing whether they <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/how-to-improve-customer-retention\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">help boost retention<\/a> in other cohorts too.<\/p><p>To test this hypothesis, show the other cohorts <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/in-app-messaging\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">in-app messages<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/feature-usage\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">drive feature usage<\/a>. And continuously track retention over time to <strong>study any changes that may prove or disprove your hypothesis<\/strong>.<\/p><figure class=\"image strchf-type-image regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/in-app-messaging-modals_50085bb55d46d40d9e1206cd0e1a8e2c_800.png 1x, https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/in-app-messaging-modals_50085bb55d46d40d9e1206cd0e1a8e2c_1600.png 2x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/in-app-messaging-modals_50085bb55d46d40d9e1206cd0e1a8e2c_800.png 1x, https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/in-app-messaging-modals_50085bb55d46d40d9e1206cd0e1a8e2c_1600.png 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/in-app-messaging-modals_50085bb55d46d40d9e1206cd0e1a8e2c_800.png\" alt=\"Setting up in-app messages\" \/><\/picture><figcaption>In-app messages are an easy way of boosting feature usage, enabling you to test how that feature impacts overall user engagement and retention.<\/figcaption><\/figure><h3 id=\"bafr2\">Iterate and repeat the user analysis process<\/h3><p><strong>If your test proves successful<\/strong>, then apply the findings while starting the user analytics process again from scratch, this time with some other questions.<\/p><p>However, <strong>if your test fails<\/strong>, redo your hypothesis and test again. Continue the process until your test is successful, and then follow the above steps all over again.<\/p><p>Such an <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/iterative-testing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">iterative approach<\/a> helps continuously refine your product based on <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/data-driven-insights\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">data-driven insights<\/a>.<\/p><h2 id=\"fn603\">What challenges affect the user analysis process?<\/h2><p>Let&#8217;s explore the most common challenges you&#8217;re likely to run into during the user analysis process &#8211; and how to avoid them!<\/p><h3 id=\"aai3q\">User analytics data limitation<\/h3><p>There are two main issues when it comes to collecting user analytics data.<\/p><p>Firstly, <strong>what if you can\u2019t collect data or don\u2019t have enough data to draw conclusions?<\/strong><\/p><p>Limited data isn\u2019t necessarily a bad thing. In some cases, you might not need user data at all, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/ux-analytics-saas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">UX analytics<\/a> and design. For such instances, there are several workarounds you could try depending on the context. Let\u2019s go over some examples to help you understand:<\/p><ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/how-to-do-a-competitive-analysis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Competitive analysis<\/a> to examine UX familiarity<\/strong>, studying what design changes other companies are making that deviate from the norm and how they\u2019re working for them.<\/li><li><strong>Heuristics for updating or evaluating designs<\/strong>, listing down <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/user-psychology-ux-design-principles\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">recommendations and principles to keep in mind<\/a>. E.g. display the current system status so users are kept informed and can plan their next steps accordingly.<\/li><li><strong>Accessibility standards<\/strong> <strong>for <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/inclusive-product-design\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">inclusive designs<\/a><\/strong> are readily available to base UX designs on. Examples include contrast ratios, resizable text, and form labels &#8211; elements that ultimately benefit all users.<\/li><li><strong>Academic research and industry reports are useful for startups <\/strong>that don\u2019t have enough historical data for comparison. So they can resort to publically available research for a baseline.<\/li><\/ul><p>These qualitative methods provide universal design frameworks for a more <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/human-centered-design-vs-design-thinking\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">user-centered design<\/a> and help explore new ideas in data-limited situations.<\/p><p>Secondly, <strong>is the collected data enough to address the root cause?<\/strong><\/p><p>Even with metric tracking, you can still fail to understand the real reason behind user behaviors.<\/p><p>For example, suppose you&#8217;re monitoring conversions across your<a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/saas-signup-flow\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> sign-up flow<\/a>. Conversion rates are dropping across a <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-acquisition\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">critical acquisition metric<\/a>. You notice that the decrease started after the recent changes in the flow.<\/p><p>But you can&#8217;t say for certain if that&#8217;s the exact issue. <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/quantitative-metrics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Quantitative metrics<\/a> won&#8217;t help at this point. That&#8217;s why you need to talk to your users through surveys or interviews. However, both of those may be difficult to conduct and take more time.<\/p><p>So before going for interviews or surveys, you can try pinpointing issues with <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/what-is-session-replay\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">session recording<\/a> first (coming to <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/\">Userpilot<\/a> in Q1 2025).<\/p><figure class=\"image strchf-type-image regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/user-recording_52d666137d0b1ec55dee429534fffa9b_800.png 1x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/user-recording_52d666137d0b1ec55dee429534fffa9b_800.png 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/user-recording_52d666137d0b1ec55dee429534fffa9b_800.png\" alt=\"Session replay user analytics\" \/><\/picture><figcaption><a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/userpilot-demo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Userpilot<\/a> is introducing session replays to provide a no-code solution for deeper insights into user behavior.<\/figcaption><\/figure><h3 id=\"2kisa\">User behavior metrics<\/h3><p>You can easily find various metric frameworks or &#8220;must-track&#8221; metric lists across the internet. But you don&#8217;t <em>really <\/em>need to monitor all those metrics. So the question then is, <strong>how do you choose a good metric worth tracking?<\/strong><\/p><p>A good metric should be:<\/p><ul><li><strong>Comparative<\/strong>: Compare changes over time, across user segments, or against competitors, to see if things are improving or not.<\/li><li><strong>Understandable<\/strong>: For people to rely on data, they need to understand it. So a good metric needs to be easy to remember, discuss, and act upon within a team.<\/li><\/ul><p>Plus, a good metric should ideally <strong>be a ratio or rate<\/strong>. This warrants a separate section of its own because ratios offer several benefits, such as:<\/p><ul><li><strong>They simplify complex data <\/strong>into a single, digestible number, making it easier to make decisions quickly.<\/li><li><strong>Ratios are inherently comparative <\/strong>since they express the relationship between two or more quantities, highlighting how one value measures up to another.<\/li><li><strong>They\u2019re also useful for comparing opposing factors<\/strong>, where increasing one variable may negatively impact another, helping you to evaluate the balance between them.<\/li><\/ul><p>This video on \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/acting-on-product-analytics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Acting on Product Analytics<\/a>\u201d will help further explain how to conduct actionable analysis.<\/p><figure class=\"video strchf-type-video regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\"><div class=\"embed-container\"><div style=\"max-width: 100%; position: relative; height: 400px;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px; width: 100%; height: 100%; border: none;\" title=\"Acting on Product Analytics by Kevin O'Sullivan\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/hU5iGPl3MSM?feature=oembed\" width=\"200\" height=\"113\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><figcaption>Here\u2019s everything Kevin O\u2019Sullivan, Head of Product Design at <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/userpilot-demo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Userpilot<\/a>, has to say about your product analytics approach.<\/figcaption><\/figure><h3 id=\"bdnvc\">User analytics tools<\/h3><p>The tool you choose will determine the quality of your analysis and outcomes. This is why picking the right user behavior analytics tools isn&#8217;t a decision to be taken lightly.<\/p><p>There&#8217;s Google Analytics, perhaps one of the most widely used analytics tools. However, it tends to focus on broader metrics, lacking deeper insights into <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/user-path-analysis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">user paths<\/a> and specific drop-off points.<\/p><p>In terms of functionality, credibility, and privacy, <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/amplitude-analytics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Amplitude is famous for product analytics<\/a>. However, customer reviews suggest, &#8220;Their feature flagging is a total mess and impossible to figure out.&#8221;<\/p><p>So if you want to go for Amplitude, you need event instrumentation and data knowledge to ensure you don\u2019t mess up with tracking.<\/p><figure class=\"image strchf-type-image regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/amplitude-customer-review_1970f24587c581b7ed5ecf5b27268b4f_800.png 1x, https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/amplitude-customer-review_1970f24587c581b7ed5ecf5b27268b4f_1600.png 2x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/amplitude-customer-review_1970f24587c581b7ed5ecf5b27268b4f_800.png 1x, https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/amplitude-customer-review_1970f24587c581b7ed5ecf5b27268b4f_1600.png 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/amplitude-customer-review_1970f24587c581b7ed5ecf5b27268b4f_800.png\" alt=\"Review of Amplitude analytics\" \/><\/picture><figcaption>Although Amplitude offers powerful analytics, at the same time it comes with certain limitations and complexities.<\/figcaption><\/figure><p>Or if you need an analytics tool that helps with both qualitative and quantitative insights, consider Userpilot. It\u2019s a no-code solution, meaning it\u2019s made for product teams with limited technical resources.<\/p><figure class=\"image strchf-type-image regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/product-feedback-survey_c8a007e557649ec28554b5057a8cd946_800.png 1x, https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/product-feedback-survey_c8a007e557649ec28554b5057a8cd946_1600.png 2x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/product-feedback-survey_c8a007e557649ec28554b5057a8cd946_800.png 1x, https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/product-feedback-survey_c8a007e557649ec28554b5057a8cd946_1600.png 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/product-feedback-survey_c8a007e557649ec28554b5057a8cd946_800.png\" alt=\"Userpilot survey builder\" \/><\/picture><figcaption><a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/userpilot-demo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Userpilot<\/a> offers customizable in-app surveys with editable templates, question types, logic settings, and styling options to ensure branding consistency.<\/figcaption><\/figure><h2 id=\"o949\">What is one good example of user analytics?<\/h2><p>Let&#8217;s consider a music-streaming platform like Spotify for our example. When a user lands on an artist&#8217;s page on the platform, Spotify <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/event-tracking-tool\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">tracks an event<\/a> called &#8220;User views artist.&#8221;<\/p><p>That <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/event-analytics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">analytics event<\/a> will have metadata associated with it, also called event attribute. For the &#8220;User views artist&#8221; event, the attributes could be artist ID, artist&#8217;s genre, etc. After this action, the user could go to play a song. That event will have attributes like song ID, album ID, and song length.<\/p><p>If the user pauses the song, Spotify tracks the event &#8220;User pauses song.&#8221; The user may then go back to the artist&#8217;s page, so the event &#8220;User views artist&#8221; will be tracked once again. All these actions put together create a stream of events for the specific user.<\/p><p>Next, the product manager could create a funnel for the specific artist ID, like the one below, starting with &#8220;User views artist&#8221; and moving to &#8220;User plays song.&#8221; They could further specify the criteria by only looking at conversions within a 10-minute time frame.<\/p><figure class=\"image strchf-type-image regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/user-play-rate-funnel-analysis_d356da8e41425d9dbb15e8931c7a29e2_800.png 1x, https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/user-play-rate-funnel-analysis_d356da8e41425d9dbb15e8931c7a29e2_1600.png 2x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/user-play-rate-funnel-analysis_d356da8e41425d9dbb15e8931c7a29e2_800.png 1x, https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/user-play-rate-funnel-analysis_d356da8e41425d9dbb15e8931c7a29e2_1600.png 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/user-play-rate-funnel-analysis_d356da8e41425d9dbb15e8931c7a29e2_800.png\" alt=\"Funnel analytics\" \/><\/picture><figcaption>Funnel analysis helps identify user drop-off points, so you can make improvements accordingly to optimize the user journey.<\/figcaption><\/figure><p>Suppose the funnel shows 3 million users view the artist, but only 800 thousand play a song within 10 minutes. That&#8217;s a 27% play rate. The PM can investigate further, like whether the play rate differs between genres or device types. These investigations will help <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/product-improvement-saas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">identify opportunities for product improvements<\/a>.<\/p><p>Since the <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/conversion-rate-optimization-best-practices\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">conversion rate<\/a> is pretty low, or alternatively the drop rate is high, you might want to combine this analysis with other methods to identify the root cause. Consider <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/user-surveys\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">user surveys<\/a> or screen replays for this purpose.<\/p><h2 id=\"8kcb1\">Conclusion<\/h2><p>Now that we\u2019re at the finish line, one last thing warrants a reminder\u2014user analytics isn\u2019t just about tracking numbers. It\u2019s about understanding the story behind the data.<\/p><p>So don\u2019t discount the qualitative side of things in your pursuit of metrics and graphs. Rather, combine insights from both to better bridge the gap between user behavior and product innovation.<\/p><p>Looking to improve your user analytics with customizable in-app surveys and multiple analysis tools at your disposal? <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/userpilot-demo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Get a Userpilot demo<\/a> and see how you can unlock greater insights into user behaviors.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>User analytics is a research method which involves collecting, analyzing and interpreting data on user interactions with the SaaS product. Its main objective is to understand how users behave inside the product to inform product development and design, marketing efforts, and customer support processes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":251652,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[770],"tags":[1681,460,6047,428,5504,5620],"class_list":["post-177945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ux-analytics","tag-behavioral-analytics","tag-cohort-analysis-for-saas","tag-path-analysis","tag-user-analytics","tag-user-behavior-analysis","tag-user-journey-analysis"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>User Analytics: How Should You Do It?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"User analytics can boost user engagement, retention, &amp; product success. 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