User behavior data can help you detect pain points, evaluate user behavior, test new features, and improve your product. Understanding that data in context is key to unlocking those game-changing insights. Session replays allows you to do just that.
Session replay technology lets you record the actions your users take in your product, both on desktop and mobile, and review them to see how your users actually interact with your product’s features and functions.
Here’s how to properly analyze session replay data.
Pro tip: Sprig Replays enables you to cut your time spent reviewing clips. Learn more about the difference between session replays and Sprig Replays in this guide: sprig.com/guide-to-session-replay.
Define goals for analyzing session replays
Understanding how and why you want to leverage session replay data will guide the rest of your collection and analysis process. Some possible goals include:
- Understanding why users leave your product without finishing a task
- Gaining insights into how users leverage a particular feature
- Gauging how and why new features perform or do not perform as expected
- Pinpointing bottlenecks in a specific process
Be specific when setting your goals. We recommend applying the SMART method by making your goals specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timebound. For example, “Boost engagement of X new feature by 25% in the next four months” is a SMART goal, and one you can achieve by capturing and analyzing session replays as users interact with that new feature.
Identify key performance metrics for session replays
While your goals are objectives you hope to accomplish, metrics are the method by which you measure your progress toward those goals. It’s important to identify these KPIs so that everyone on your team is aware of what they’re measuring and why.
Of course, the metrics you choose to use depend on the goals you’ve defined. Here are some examples of metrics you might pay attention to based on the related goal:
- Identify usability issues: Bounce rate, abandonment rate, or error rate
- Clarify or streamline UI: Click patterns, navigation paths
- New feature performance: Session length, session frequency
- Understanding user behavior: Engagement with particular features, in-product survey responses
As you set KPIs, remember that click patterns and navigation paths can look completely different on mobile than they do on desktop. Session length may also be different if users are engaging with your product on the go compared to at home.
Organize session replay data
How you segment session replay data affects your effective and speedy analysis.
One method of organizing your data is to segment by user. If you want to understand how a specific demographic or location uses your app or product, use those parameters to filter your video recordings. That way, you’re looking at the most relevant data to your goal.
You might also collect and organize data based on specific behaviors. For instance, you can look only at session replays where users abandoned your app to understand why they’re doing so. You could narrow it down even further by pinpointing a feature or link that caused them to leave.
Segmenting user data based on the device used is a good idea, too, since user behavior may be completely different on mobile devices compared to desktop devices.
What tool should you use to collect and organize session replay data?
Sprig saves you time by streamlining and improving the data collection process. Sprig’s Replay feature can capture valuable user moments in your product and app — but that’s just the beginning.
Thanks to Sprig AI Analysis, you can review and organize important findings in your sessions instantly. Sprig AI identifies patterns in user behavior, uncovers pain points, and summarizes key themes and takeaways from your data. While Sprig does the heavy lifting, you can take action on the insights you’ve gained.
Let’s say you’ve just added a free demo request to your product. Weeks after placing the CTA button, however, only a handful of users clicked and completed the prompt. Without having to do any guesswork, Sprig’s AI Analysis data immediately tells you that users aren’t navigating to the free demo form link. You can use further replay insights to find optimal placement for the demo button — and use this data to inform future positioning so new features are easy to find.
Set up your session replays tool for success
A difficult tool complicates your ability to capture, export, and analyze data. Find one with simple installation instructions that you can use properly out the gate, ensuring your data is whole from the get-go.
Setting up session replays is easy with the right tools, without knowing how to code. Sprig Replays is simple to integrate into your app with a one-time installation via third-party tools such as Segment or Google Tag Manager. Once installed, you can customize privacy settings so user data is always protected and you still get the insights you need to make better product decisions.
The right session replay tool also makes it easy to set up advanced features without any additional specialty knowledge. Sprig Replays lets you customize advanced targeting out the gate, so replay recording is triggered when users take certain actions.
Leverage heatmaps to gain deeper insights
Heatmaps are a visual representation of user behavior within your product. Through color gradients, heatmaps call out which parts of a page are most engaging or least engaging. When heatmaps are read correctly, they help you see where users are spending their time and what they’re doing. And in turn, you can detect issues, replicate successful features, and improve your product experience.
By integrating heatmap data with session replays and AI analysis, you’ll gain deeper insights into your users by exploring new perspectives on their behavior.
Ways to use session replay data
With your plan of action (and the right tools) set up, you can start applying session replays into your problem-solving process. Some major ways to use session replay data include:
Plan your product roadmap
It’s hard to decide what takes priority as you plan out new features or make major changes. Session replay data can help inform this process.
Session replay data can show you the areas that are most urgent to address. For example, if 60% of users are skipping over the “upgrade” CTA on a product page, that may take priority because such a high percentage of people are scrolling past and it’s directly related to your bottom line. Since Replay data shows you the full user journey, you can see if it’s a simple design flaw or if there’s another feature directing user attention away from your CTA.
Make data-driven decisions
Data can provide key insights into your user base, but ultimately, it’s up to you and your team to leverage that information to make better decisions. Use the quantitative data you gather from session replays to support your qualitative observations.
For example, imagine the abandonment rate on a particular page is high. You notice your users complain about errors, broken links, or navigation issues in your in-product surveys. While their feedback is useful, it’s not enough to understand what to change or fix.
Session replays can help. The metrics you focus on and the numbers you gather can tell you exactly what needs to be addressed, and how to improve the user experience.
Spot usability issues
Session replays will show you user movements like clicks or taps, scrolls or swipes, keystrokes, mouse movements, or screen size changes. You can identify common usability issues by focusing on these movements in session replays alone.
For example, if many of your users are clicking multiple times on a link, then abandoning the page, you’ll know that something needs to be addressed. The link may be broken, outdated, or leading to the wrong place.
Or let’s say you notice that most users stop scrolling at a certain point on a page without converting. Check that the page is designed well on desktop and mobile, the content is clear and actionable, and nothing is distracting or disrupting their browsing.
Optimize new features
When launching a new feature, you want to know that it’s making an impact with your users. If session replay data clearly shows your new feature isn’t receiving the attention it deserves, you’ll know refinement is still needed.
Digital form provider GoFormz uses Sprig Replays to ensure users who interact with new features take all of the steps they were supposed to take. Replays illustrate exactly which user flows are intuitive and where friction points occur. This saves GoFormz’s product team valuable time and resources. They can skip A/B testing and see precisely how their target audience responds to a new feature. If they’re not getting the desired results, they’re well equipped to make improvements to keep their user base happy.
Test and validate UX hypotheses
Session replays provide clarity and evidence on how users interact with your product. This gives you the data needed to make confident decisions about the user experience, not just ones based on a hunch.
A few examples of validation techniques that session replays support include:
- A/B testing: Session replays give you firsthand information on which version of a product workflow or page layout work best. They supplement A/B testing by showing how differences in your product or feature impact user behavior in real-time.
- Navigation paths: If you’re unsure which navigation path is most intuitive and most effective, watch your replay data. Users who abandon a page, backtrack, or stop scrolling may signal that your navigation path needs improvement.
- Heatmaps: By showing where users are clicking, heatmaps can confirm your hypotheses on feature visibility, accessibility and content effectiveness.
Fix UX pain points and improve your product with Sprig Replays
Sprig Replays are the ultimate user journey replay tool. Replays give you the insight you need into your user’s behavior and needs. With Replays, you’ll spot and fix friction points, improve usability, and optimize your product’s features. And thanks to Sprig AI Analysis, you can summarize findings and pull key takeaways from data immediately.
Ready to build a better product? Get started with Sprig now.