Learn User Journey Analytics with Phoebe · course 2 of the ecommerce & growth analytics series

Where the numbers happen: the in-app journey, measured

The metrics course told you WHAT an online store's numbers are. This one tells you WHERE they happen - on which screens, along which paths, after which taps. A leader track that reads the journey without computing: the screen map and its five entry doors, why search users convert multiples of browsers, what actually makes a product page sell (reviews math included), what kills checkouts (Baymard's honest reasons list), and how to prioritize journey fixes. And an analyst track that measures it all on Mango Lane - the same fashion app, the same month, every count reconciling to the metrics course to the order. The centerpiece is a live flow simulator: toggle four classic journey fixes (smarter search, richer PDP, persistent cart, one-page checkout) and watch conversion climb from 2.7% to 4.0% and GMV rise 47% - every number recomputed live. No install, no account, no bill.

14sessions
2tracks
6screens, one map
47% GMV in the simulator ladder

The leader track 🤝 · for commercial & product leaders · 6 x 45 min · no code to write

Reading mode: the journey as a map instead of a funnel, the five entry doors and their quality, the search road versus the browse road, the product page as the decision room, the last-mile checkout and what honestly kills it, and the prioritization ritual that decides which journey fix gets funded - each session ends with questions to ask your team.

🗺️ Leader 1 · easy

The journey, not the funnel

A session is a story, not a stage gate. What the funnel view flattens - multiple doors, multiple roads, dead zones - and why the map reads better.

▶ Leaders start here 🚪 Leader 2 · easy

Entry points

Half your sessions do not start at Home. The five doors, their quality, and the manufactured entries - ads, pushes, deeplinks - that skip the queue.

The five doors 🔎 Leader 3 · easy

Search vs browse

Two roads to every product page. Why searchers convert at multiples of browsers (honest numbers, honestly flagged), and what each road needs from you.

Two roads 🛋️ Leader 4 · medium

The PDP decision room

Images first (56% of shoppers start there), the reviews math from Spiegel's research, and the fit information that fashion returns hinge on.

Where decisions happen 🏁 Leader 5 · medium

The last mile

Baymard's checkout-abandonment reasons, the 5.1-step / 11-field reality of US checkouts, and the friction-versus-reassurance balance.

What kills checkouts ⚖️ Leader 6 · medium

Journey priorities

Reach x severity x confidence: the ritual that ranks journey fixes, what goes on the weekly review, and the handoff to experimentation.

Which fix first

The analyst track 🛠️ · for practitioners · 8 x 45 min · live flow simulator

Computing mode: draw the screen map with real counts (b1), measure each entry door's quality (b2), compare the search and browse paths with GA4's path exploration (b3), weld it all into the live flow simulator and run the four-fix ladder (b4), then go deep where the money is - PDP engagement (b5), the checkout micro-funnel (b6), a full journey-leak diagnosis (b7), and the journey scorecard you hand to the business (b8). Every count reconciles with the metrics course to the order.

🧭 Analyst 1 · easy

Map the journey

Six screens, five doors, one money path - Mango Lane's screen map with real session counts, and the screen_view instrumentation that draws it.

▶ Analysts start here 🚪 Analyst 2 · easy

Entry-point analytics

Entrances, landing screens, and per-door reach: Home entries find a product 20% of the time, search landings 75%. Door mix vs door quality, computed.

Door quality 🔀 Analyst 3 · easy

Path analysis

The search path converts 12%, the browse path 4.5% - same store, 2.7x apart. GA4 path exploration, forward and backward, without drowning in the tree.

12% vs 4.5% 🎛️ Analyst 4 · medium

The flow simulator

The journey as one live machine: four gate dials, four fixes, and the ladder from 9,720 to 14,304 orders - conversion 2.7% to 4.0%, GMV +47%.

▶ Live simulator 🛋️ Analyst 5 · medium

PDP engagement metrics

Engaged product-page sessions convert 2x plain ones - measured. Gallery depth, review reads, size-guide opens, and Spiegel's reviews math applied.

Engaged vs plain 💳 Analyst 6 · medium

Cart & checkout micro-funnel

Inside the last gate: begin_checkout to shipping to payment to purchase, with Baymard's reasons list and field-count research mapped to each step.

The last 16,200 🔧 Analyst 7 · medium

Diagnose a journey leak

The machine in reverse: from a broken top-line number to the broken screen, using the flow simulator and the metrics course's tree together.

▶ Live simulator 📐 Analyst 8 · hands-on

The journey scorecard

Journey KPIs as spec rows - definitions, owners, thresholds - the instrumentation audit checklist, and the handoff that survives without you.

The handoff
easy - everyone medium hands-on hardest

Course 2 of the ecommerce & growth analytics series. Take learn-ecommerce-metrics-with-phoebe first - it defines every metric this course locates on the map. Siblings: learn-metric-decomposition-with-phoebe (the tree craft) and learn-experimentation-with-phoebe (testing the fixes this course prices).

Built from the GA4 documentation (path exploration, funnel exploration, screen tracking, landing pages, source scopes, site search), Baymard Institute checkout research (abandonment reasons, form-field benchmarks), Spiegel Research Center's review-conversion study, and honestly-flagged vendor benchmarks (Airship, CleverTap, Algolia-relayed search stats) - applied to one store end to end.

Choose your path 🗺️

Two doors, one journey. Leaders never compute; analysts never sit through theory they have not just poked in the simulator.

🤝 The leader path (read & prioritize) a1→ a2→ a3→ a4→ a5→ a6
🛠️ The analyst path (map & diagnose) b1→ b2→ b3→ b4→ b5→ b6→ b7→ b8
🚀 The full journey (read AND map) a1-a6→ b1-b8

The knowledge map 🧠

Both tracks at a glance - hover a session to spotlight its concepts, click any node to jump in.