CRO
Error Tracking
A practical product and CRO method for identifying failures, understanding impact, and prioritising the issues that matter most.
How to use error tracking to capture failures, understand where users hit problems, and prioritise fixes based on real impact.
What it is
Error tracking is a quantitative UX and product method used to capture, monitor, and analyse errors that occur during 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.
This includes technical errors such as failed API calls, form validation failures, broken links, crashes, and glossarySystemA system is a collection of interconnected components that work together to achieve a specific function or outcome.Open glossary term exceptions.
It provides visibility into when something goes wrong, where it happens, and how often it occurs.
Unlike behavioural methods, error tracking focuses on failures in the experience rather than general usage.
The goal is to identify, prioritise, and fix issues that directly impact glossaryUsabilityUsability is how easy and efficient it is for users to complete tasks within a product. It focuses on clarity, simplicity, and reducing effort so users can achieve their goals without confusion or friction.Open glossary term, glossaryPerformancePerformance refers to how quickly and efficiently a system responds to user actions and processes tasks.Open glossary term, and glossaryConversionA conversion is any action a user takes that aligns with a defined goal, such as making a purchase, signing up, or completing a task.Open glossary term.
Error tracking is useful when the main problem is not behaviour alone, but where the product is breaking for users.
When to use it
Use this method when glossaryReliabilityReliability is the ability of a system to consistently perform as expected without failure.Open glossary term and glossaryPerformancePerformance refers to how quickly and efficiently a system responds to user actions and processes tasks.Open glossary term matter.
It is most useful when:
It is less useful when:
Error tracking is often used alongside funnel analysis and session replay analysis to understand both the impact and context of issues.
Key takeaway
Use error tracking when failures, instability, or technical breakdowns are affecting the user experience and you need to prioritise fixes.
How to run it
Set up properly
Be clear on which errors you are capturing, how they are logged, and how they will be categorised. Logging everything with equal weight produces a stream nobody reads.
Include errors the user sees as well as the ones only the glossarySystemA system is a collection of interconnected components that work together to achieve a specific function or outcome.Open glossary term knows about. A validation message people cannot get past is an error even when nothing technically failed.
Run the method
Error tracking is continuous and unglamorous. It is the method most likely to be running already and least likely to be used for design decisions.
- Capture errors in real time across the whole product, including client-side failures that never reach the server.
- Log the 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: location, device, browser, what the person was doing. An error without context is a line in a file.
- Group similar errors together. Raw counts are dominated by one noisy issue that turns out to affect nobody.
- Measure frequency and impact separately. A rare error blocking checkout outranks a frequent one that self-recovers.
- Prioritise on severity and user impact rather than volume, and be explicit about which you used.
Focus on what people cannot complete rather than what the logs find upsetting. Many logged errors are invisible to users, and some invisible failures are not logged at all.
Capture and make sense of it
The value comes from knowing what actually breaks. Look across the glossaryDataData is raw, uninterpreted information collected and stored so it can be analysed, processed, or used to inform decisions. On its own it carries no meaning; context and interpretation are what make it useful.Open glossary term to identify:
- Recurring errors, grouped by cause rather than message
- High-frequency issues affecting many people
- Critical failures inside key journeys
- Differences across devices, browsers and glossaryEnvironmentAn environment is a specific configured setup where software runs, such as development, staging, or production, each with its own data and settings. Keeping them consistent is what makes behaviour in one predict behaviour in another.Open glossary term
Use this to prioritise fixes. Error glossaryDataData is raw, uninterpreted information collected and stored so it can be analysed, processed, or used to inform decisions. On its own it carries no meaning; context and interpretation are what make it useful.Open glossary term is also the fastest way to prove a design problem to an engineering team.
What to look for
Focus on:
Where it goes wrong
Most issues come from:
Not all errors matter equally. Focus on impact.
What you get from it
Done properly, this method gives you:
Key takeaway
It helps you remove friction caused by things breaking.
Get in touch
If this sounds like something you need, we can help you identify what is breaking, prioritise fixes, and improve the overall experience.
No guesswork. No assumptions. Just clear insight you can act on.
FAQ
Common questions
A few practical answers to the questions that usually come up around this method.
What is error tracking in UX?
Error tracking is a method used to capture and analyse errors that occur during user interactions.
When should you use error tracking?
Use it when monitoring product performance, identifying bugs, or improving reliability.
What types of errors should be tracked?
Technical errors, form validation failures, broken links, crashes, and system exceptions.
What tools are used for error tracking?
Tools such as Sentry, Datadog, LogRocket, and New Relic are commonly used.
Does error tracking improve UX?
Yes. Fixing errors directly improves usability, reliability, and conversion.
Quick take
If something is breaking for users and you do not know where or why, start with error tracking.
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