Flow, process and networks
User-path / clickstream diagram
Displays observed paths between user actions or pages.
- Diagram
- Journey exploration
- Flow
What it answers
Which paths do users actually follow?
- Shape
- Branching event nodes and links
- What it shows
- Common journeys, loops and exits.
Example
The question
Which paths do visitors take after the home page?
Visitor paths from the home page, first three clicks (thousands)
Illustrative data. It belongs to no company.
When to use it
Use it when
Exploring observed behaviour rather than a fixed funnel.
Avoid it when
Aggregated pair links presented as complete individual paths without evidence.
How to read it
Follow branches and use counts to compare common paths.
Note
Define repeated-event, loop and truncation handling.
The data you need
- Layout
- Ordered event log
- Fields
- EntityID or SessionID: text; Event: text; Timestamp: datetime
- One row is
- One recorded action by one user or session. What is the grain?
- Rules
- Sort within entity/session. Define event order, identity, sessionisation, repeated-event and window rules.
- Optional
- Stage definitions for fallout; EventID for ties; preaggregated Source,Target,Count if full paths are unnecessary.
- Preparation
- Resolve user/session/case identities; sort within each trace and define ties, repeated events, windows and start/completion semantics before deriving links.
- Units
- Counts may mean users, sessions, cases or events; state which. Conversion uses eligible entities, and durations require explicit time units.
Worked example
Events U1: Visit->Trial; U2: Visit->Exit. Both paths start at Visit; each branch hasone user under this toy definition.
| EntityID | Event | Timestamp |
|---|---|---|
| U1 | Visit | 2026-01-01T10:00:00 |
| U1 | Trial | 2026-01-01T10:05:00 |
| U2 | Visit | 2026-01-01T11:00:00 |