Configure a flow visualization

Flow visualizations allow you to understand the journey stemming from or leading up to a specific conversion event on your website or your app. It traces a path through your dimensions (and dimension items) or metrics. Flow lets you configure the start or end of the path you are interested in, or analyze all those paths that flow through a dimension or dimension item.

new Flow UI

Configuration steps

  1. To start creating a flow diagram, add a blank panel to your project and click the visualizations icon in the left rail. Then drag the Flow visualization into the panel. Or drag the Flow visualization into an existing project.

  2. Anchor your Flow visualization using one of three options:

    • Starts with (metrics, dimensions, or items), or
    • Contains (dimensions, or items), or
    • Ends with (metrics, dimensions, or items)

    Each of these categories is shown onscreen as a “drop zone.” You can populate the drop zone in 3 ways:

    • Use the drop-down menu to select metrics or dimensions.
    • Drag items from the dimensions or metrics list.
    • Use search to find the metrics or dimension you are looking for.

    For example, let’s assume that you want to trace everything that leads up to a checkout event. You would drag a checkout-related dimension or metric (such as Order exists) into the Ends with drop zone.

  3. If you choose a metric, you also need to provide a Pathing Dimension, as shown here, that you will use to build the path. The default is Page.

    pathing dimension

    IMPORTANT

    Calculated metrics cannot be dropped into the Starts with or Ends with drop zones.

  4. (Optional) Click Show Advanced Settings to configure Advanced Settings:

    advanced settings

    Setting Description
    Wrap labels Normally, the labels on the Flow elements are truncated to save screen real estate, but you can make the entire label visible by checking this box. Default = unchecked.
    Include repeat instances Flow visualizations are based on instances of a dimension. This setting gives you the option to include or exclude repeated instances, e.g. Page reloads. However, repeats cannot be removed from Flow visualizations that include multi-valued dimensions, such as listVars, listProps, s.product, merchandising eVars, etc. Default = unchecked.
    Limit to first/last occurrence Limit paths to those that start/end with the first/last occurrence of a dimension/item/metric. See the section below entitled “Example scenario for ‘limit to first/last occurrence’” for a more detailed explanation.
    Number of Columns Determines how many columns you want in your Flow diagram.
    Items expanded per Column How many items you want in each column.
    Flow Container
    • Visit
    • Visitor
    Lets you switch between Visit and Visitor to analyze person pathing. These settings help you understand person engagement at the person level (across visits), or constrain the analysis to a single visit.

  5. Click Build.

View and change the Flow output

flow output

A summary of the Flow configuration appears at the top of the diagram. The paths in the diagram are proportional. Paths with more activity appear thicker.

To drill down further into the data, you have several options:

  • The flow diagram is interactive. Mouse over the diagram to change the details that are shown.

  • When you click on a node in the diagram, the details for that node appear. Click on the node again to collapse it.

    node-details

  • You can filter a column to display only certain results, such as including and excluding, specifying criteria, etc.

  • Click the plus sign (+) on the left to expand a column.

  • Use the right-click options explained below to further customize the output.

  • Click the pencil icon next to the configuration summary to further edit the flow or rebuild it with different options.

  • You can also export and further analyze your Flow diagram as part of a project’s .CSV file by going to Project > Download CSV.

Filtering

Above each column, a filter appears when you hover over it. By clicking the filter, you get the same filter dialog that exists in the Freeform table today. This filter works the same as it does in the Freeform table.

  • Use advanced settings to include or exclude certain criteria with our list of operators.
  • Once you have filtered an item from the list, that specific column will reflect the filtering. (The filter either reduces it to only show the item allowed in the filter, or it removes all items except for the one item you want in the filter.
  • All downstream and upstream columns should persist, as long as there is data flowing into the remaining nodes.
  • Once applied, the filter icon appears in blue above the column it is filtering.
  • To remove a filter, click on the filter icon to open the filter menu. Remove any filters applied and then click Save. The flow should return to its previous, unfiltered state.

Right-click options

Option Description
Focus on this node Change the focus to the selected node. The focus node appears at the center of the Flow diagram.
Start Over Returns you to the Freeform diagram builder, where you can build a new Flow diagram.
Create Segment from this point in flow Create a segment. This takes you into the Segment Builder, where you can configure the new segment.
Breakdown Break the node down by available Dimensions, Metrics, or Time.
Trend Create a trended diagram for the node.
Expand entire column Expand a column to show all nodes. By default, only the top five nodes display.
Collapse entire column Hide all nodes in a column.
Exclude Item/Restore Excluded Items Removes a specific node from the column and automatically creates it as a filter at the top of the column. To restore the excluded item, right-click again and select Restore Excluded Item. you can also open the filter at the top of the column and remove the pillbox with the item you just excluded.

Example scenario for ‘limit to first/last occurrence’

When using this option, keep in mind that:

  • Limit to first/last occurrence counts only the first/last occurrence in the series. All other occurrences of the Starts with or Ends with criteria are discarded.
  • If used with a Starts with flow, only the first occurrence that matches the start criteria is included.
  • If used with an Ends with flow, only the last occurrence that matches the end criteria will be included.
  • The series used differs based on the container. If using the Visit container, the series of events will be the session. If using the Visitor container, the series of events will be all the events for a given user in the provided date range.
  • The Limit to first/last occurrence option can be configured in the advanced settings when using a Metric or Dimension Item in the “Starts with” or “Ends with” fields.

Example series of events:

Home > Products > Add to cart > Products > Add to Cart > Billing > Order Confirmation

Consider a flow analysis using the following settings:

  • Start with Add to cart (Dimension Item)
  • Page pathing dimension
  • Visit container

If “Limit to first/last occurrence” is disabled, then this single series of events would count 2 occurrences of “Add to Cart”.
Expected Flow Output:
“Add to Cart” (2) —> “Products” (1)
-> “Billing” (1)

However, if “Limit to first/last occurrence” is enabled, only the first occurrence of “Add to cart” would be included in the analysis.
Expected Flow Output:
“Add to Cart” (1) —> “Products” (1)

Consider the same series of events but using the following settings:

  • Ends with Add to cart (Dimension Item)
  • Page pathing dimension
  • Visit container

If Limit to first/last occurrence is disabled, then this single series of events would count 2 occurrences of “Add to Cart”.
Expected Flow Output:
“Products” (2) <— “Add to cart” (2)

However, if Limit to first/last occurrence is enabled, only the last occurrence of Add to cart would be included in the analysis.
Expected Flow Output:
“Products” (1) <— “Add to cart” (1)

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