User Journey Tracking
Track not just WHAT users do, but WHETHER they accomplished their goal.
Core Principle
Every journey event should help answer: "Why did users fail to complete their intended task?"
Key Context to Attach
| Field | Example | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
job_name | "checkout" | User's intended task |
job_step | "payment" | Current step in journey |
job_progress | "3/4" | How far they got |
outcome | "success" / "friction" / "abandon" | Did they succeed? |
Friction Signals to Track
Detect user struggle before they contact support:
| Signal | Detection |
|---|---|
| Rage taps | 3+ taps same element in 1s |
| Retry exhaustion | 3+ retries of same action |
| Quick abandonment | Exit within 5s of error |
| Navigation loops | 3+ back navigations without progress |
Outcome Quality
Not just success/failure:
- Completed smoothly — no friction
- Completed with friction — retries, errors, slow
- Abandoned after friction — struggled, then quit
- Abandoned immediately — no engagement
"Completed with friction" is often the most actionable signal.
When to Use This Skill
- Onboarding flows
- Checkout/payment funnels
- Signup/registration
- Any multi-step process
- Feature adoption tracking
Implementation References
| Topic | Reference |
|---|---|
| Full methodology | references/user-focused-observability.md |
| Job-based patterns | references/jtbd.md |
| Friction detection code | references/user-journeys.md |
| Journey correlation | references/user-journeys.md |
Decision Tree
Before adding journey instrumentation:
- Does this help identify what the user was trying to do? → Add intent context
- Does this help determine if they succeeded? → Track outcomes
- Does this help explain why they failed? → Add friction signals
If no to all three → probably don't need it.
Related Skills
- See
skills/instrumentation-planningfor prioritization framework - Combine with
skills/interaction-latencyfor friction detection on key actions - Combine with
skills/navigation-latencyfor screen transition context