If you’re tired of seeing users bail on your app but have no idea where they’re getting stuck—or why—you’re not alone. Churn hurts, especially when you’ve put in months (or years) building something you think people will love. This guide is for product managers, UX folk, and SaaS founders who want to use LogRocket to actually figure out what’s wrong—and fix it—without drowning in dashboards or chasing vanity metrics.
Below, I’ll walk you through a practical way to analyze user journeys in LogRocket, spot trouble spots, and use that info to keep more users around. No magic bullets, just real steps. Let’s get into it.
Step 1: Get Clear on What “Churn” Means for Your App
Before you open up LogRocket, you need to define what churn means for you. It’s not always “user cancels subscription.” Sometimes people just stop coming back, get stuck at onboarding, or use the app once and ghost.
How to define churn in your context: - For SaaS: Is it when a user cancels, or when their credit card gets declined? Or maybe they just go inactive for 30+ days. - For mobile/web apps: Is it when someone never makes it past onboarding, or when they haven’t logged in for a week? - For e-commerce: Is it a user who never checks out after adding to cart?
Pro tip: If you start with a fuzzy definition, you’ll end up with fuzzy “insights.” Nail down exactly what you want to reduce.
Step 2: Set Up the Right Events and Funnels in LogRocket
LogRocket automatically records a ton of stuff—clicks, page views, network calls—but it’s not psychic. If you want to see where users are dropping out, you’ll need to set up custom events and funnels.
A. Identify Key Journey Steps
Think about the main things a user should do to get value from your app. For example: - Sign up > Onboard > Complete profile > First project created - Browse > Add to cart > Checkout > Payment
B. Track These Steps in LogRocket
Create custom events for each important step. LogRocket lets you define events in code, or sometimes via point-and-click for simple cases.
- Don’t track everything. Too much noise = hard to see patterns.
- Focus on the "aha" moment. If users never reach it, they’re gone.
C. Build Funnels
Funnels in LogRocket let you see how many people make it from Step 1 to Step 2…and where they fall off.
- Set up a funnel for your critical user journey (e.g., Signup → Onboarding Complete → Key Action).
- Look for big drop-offs between steps.
What works: Funnels are your friend for seeing where most people give up. Don’t waste time on micro-conversions if users are bailing way earlier.
Step 3: Watch Session Replays Where Users Drop Off
This is where LogRocket actually shines. Numbers tell you where users stop, but session replays show you why.
A. Filter for Drop-Offs
Use your funnel or event filters to find users who didn’t complete a key step. For example, users who started onboarding but never finished.
B. Watch a Handful of Sessions
Don’t try to watch hundreds. Watch 5–10 recent sessions for each trouble spot to see: - Are users getting error messages? - Do they look confused or lost? - Are there UI bugs or slow load times? - Are they rage-clicking (clicking the same thing over and over)?
C. Take Notes
You’ll start to see patterns emerge—maybe the “Next” button is half off-screen on mobile, or maybe users keep clicking Help and bailing. Write these down.
Honest take: Session replays are powerful, but it’s easy to waste time doomscrolling through random sessions. Stay focused on sessions tied to actual drop-offs.
Step 4: Use Heatmaps and Click Maps (But Don’t Get Distracted)
LogRocket offers heatmaps and click maps, which show where users are clicking or ignoring things on a page.
- Use these to spot dead zones (important buttons no one clicks) or distractions (users clicking non-clickable images).
- But don’t obsess—heatmaps look cool but rarely tell the whole story.
What works: Use heatmaps to validate hunches from session replays. If people keep missing a button, see if it’s just being ignored by everyone.
What to ignore: Don’t spend hours on “interesting” but irrelevant click patterns. Stay focused on the steps tied to actual churn.
Step 5: Correlate User Feedback With Session Data
Sometimes, users will tell you what went wrong (in-app feedback, support tickets, app store reviews). Most times, they won’t.
- Cross-reference complaints with session replays. If someone says “the app froze at checkout,” find that session and see what really happened.
- Look for silent churn: users who never complain, just disappear. Their sessions are often the most telling.
Pro tip: Save “rage click” or error event segments—these are gold mines for finding hidden bugs.
Step 6: Prioritize Issues Based on Impact, Not Noise
After a few rounds of watching replays and reviewing funnels, you’ll have a laundry list of problems. Resist the urge to fix everything at once.
- Focus on the issues affecting most users in your drop-off points.
- Ignore one-off weirdness unless it’s catastrophic (e.g., login totally broken on certain devices).
- Fix the most common, high-impact blockers first.
What works: Share a few real-user replays with your team—engineers and designers take issues more seriously when they see actual users hit a wall.
Step 7: Make and Measure Changes—Then Repeat
Once you’ve fixed the obvious problems, set up a new baseline in LogRocket: - Keep tracking the same funnels and events. - Watch the drop-off rates. Did things actually improve? - Keep an eye on session replays for new issues.
Don’t fall for vanity wins: Sometimes, you’ll see a bump in a metric but no change in real retention. The only thing that matters is whether users actually stick around longer.
Extra Tips and Honest Warnings
- Don’t chase 100% completion: Some users will always churn. Focus on moving the needle, not eliminating churn entirely.
- Beware false positives: Not every rage click is a bug. Sometimes users are just impatient.
- Don’t set it and forget it: User behavior changes over time. Check back in every few weeks or after big releases.
- Involve your team: Share insights and replays, so everyone’s clear on what’s broken and why it matters.
Keep It Simple—And Keep Iterating
Analyzing user journeys in LogRocket isn’t about finding one big “aha” moment. It’s about chipping away at the rough edges, one small blocker at a time. Don’t get lost in data for data’s sake: focus on what actually moves the needle for your users. Fix, measure, repeat.
You don’t need fancy dashboards or a data science degree—just curiosity, discipline, and a willingness to actually watch what your users do. Start simple, stay focused, and you’ll see churn start to drop.