Conversion Optimisation
Session Recording
Also known as: Session replay
Plain English
Recording what users do on your site or app.
Definition
glossarySessionA session is a single period of user interaction with a product, from entry to exit within a defined timeframe.Open glossary term recording captures a user's real glossaryInteractionInteraction refers to any action a user takes within a product and how the system responds. It includes clicks, taps, gestures, and inputs that drive the user experience.Open glossary term with a product (clicks, scrolls, hesitations, and glossaryNavigationNavigation is the system of menus, links, and cues that lets people move through a product and reach what they need. It exposes the underlying structure, and is how most users experience that structure.Open glossary term) for review afterwards. It shows genuine behaviour in genuine conditions, without any ability to ask why.
In practice
Used to review glossaryBehaviourBehaviour refers to how users interact with a system, including actions, patterns, and responses.Open glossary term such as clicks, scrolls, and glossaryNavigationNavigation is the system of menus, links, and cues that lets people move through a product and reach what they need. It exposes the underlying structure, and is how most users experience that structure.Open glossary term paths.
In context
Watching ten recordings of people failing a task teaches more than a month of dashboards, and takes an afternoon.
The reality
Large volumes of recordings can be time-consuming to analyse.
Compared with
Session Recording vs Usability Testing
Recordings show real users in real conditions but cannot ask why. guideUsability TestingObserving users complete tasks to identify usability issues, friction, and barriers to success.Open guide is observed and can probe reasoning but happens in artificial conditions. Recordings find the problems; testing explains them.
FAQ
Common questions
A few practical answers to the questions that usually come up around this term.
What is session recording?
It is capturing user glossaryInteractionInteraction refers to any action a user takes within a product and how the system responds. It includes clicks, taps, gestures, and inputs that drive the user experience.Open glossary term for analysis.
Why is it useful?
It shows real glossaryUser BehaviourUser behaviour refers to how users interact with a product, including actions, patterns, and decision-making processes.Open glossary term in glossaryContextContext is the set of surrounding conditions that shape how someone behaves and decides, including their goal, their environment, their time pressure, and what happened immediately before. The same action can mean different things in different contexts.Open glossary term.
What is a limitation?
It can be time-consuming to review.
What should you look for?
glossaryPatternA pattern is a reusable solution to a design problem that recurs across products and contexts. It captures an approach already shown to work, so a team solves the problem once rather than every time it appears.Open glossary term of confusion, hesitation, and glossaryDrop-offDrop-off refers to users leaving a journey before completing a desired action or reaching the next step.Open glossary term.
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