User engagement metrics can tell you if people are actually using what you’ve built—or just bouncing after the first click. This guide is for anyone who’s set up a dashboard in Feathery and wants real answers: Who’s using it? Where do they drop off? Is it worth the effort? If you want to skip buzzwords and just get useful numbers, you’re in the right place.
Why Care About User Engagement Metrics?
You didn’t make a dashboard for fun. You want to know if it’s helping real people. Tracking engagement lets you:
- Spot which features people actually use (not just the ones you like)
- Find out where users get stuck or lose interest
- Prove to your boss (or yourself) that your dashboard isn’t just pretty, it’s useful
But watch out: not every metric is worth your time. Vanity stats—like “total pageviews”—won’t help you make better decisions. Focus on numbers that show real user behavior.
Step 1: Decide What Engagement Actually Means for Your Dashboard
Before you start tracking stuff, get clear about what “engaged” means for your users. Some dashboards live or die by daily active users. Others care more about whether people complete a key workflow.
Ask yourself:
- What do you want users to do? (e.g., dig into reports, export data, set alerts)
- What actions matter most? (clicks, time spent, repeated visits, etc.)
- What’s just noise? (Don’t track everything. You’ll drown in data.)
Pro tip: Pick 2–3 metrics that actually change how you work, like:
- Number of users who finish a report or critical workflow
- Repeat visits per user per week
- Drop-off rates on important steps
Skip tracking “impressions” or “total clicks” unless you know exactly why you need them.
Step 2: Check Feathery’s Built-In Analytics (and Their Limits)
Feathery dashboards come with some analytics out of the box. You’ll usually get:
- Page views and unique visitors: Basic traffic, but doesn’t tell you much about real engagement.
- Form completions and conversion rates: Useful if your dashboard is built around forms or user flows.
- Drop-off and completion funnels: Shows where people bail out.
These built-ins are great for a quick gut check. But they’re often pretty high-level. If you need to answer questions like “How many users clicked the custom export button?” or “Where do power users spend the most time?”—you’ll probably need more.
What’s missing:
- Granular event tracking (button clicks, toggles, etc.)
- Cohort analysis (how groups behave over time)
- Custom user properties (segmenting by plan, company, etc.)
If you just need top-line numbers, built-in might be enough. For deeper insights, read on.
Step 3: Set Up Custom Event Tracking
To get beyond the basics, you’ll want to set up custom event tracking. This lets you record when users do specific things—like clicking a button, opening a widget, or downloading a file.
How to do it in Feathery:
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Identify key events:
List out the 2–3 most important actions you want to track. Be ruthless—don’t try to track everything. -
Use Feathery’s event hooks:
Feathery lets you add custom event handlers to elements in your dashboard. You can usually do this via their visual editor or by adding a snippet of code if you need something more advanced.
Example (pseudo-code):
javascript feathery.track("export_button_clicked", { userId: currentUser.id, timestamp: Date.now() });
Check Feathery’s docs for the exact syntax—they update things pretty often.
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Send events to your analytics tool:
Feathery can integrate directly with tools like Google Analytics, Mixpanel, or Amplitude. Set up the integration, and make sure your custom events are flowing through. -
For Google Analytics, use GA4 event tracking
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For Mixpanel/Amplitude, you’ll usually map Feathery events to their event schema
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Test your events:
Click through your dashboard as a user. Make sure every key action fires an event. Watch out for missed clicks or duplicate events—these are common gotchas.
What works:
- Focusing on a handful of meaningful events keeps reports readable.
- Using built-in integrations saves a ton of time.
What doesn’t:
- Tracking every possible click—your reports will be a mess.
- Relying only on pageviews to measure value.
Step 4: Build Reports That Actually Tell You Something
Once your events are tracked, don’t just stare at raw numbers. Build reports that answer real questions:
- Where do most users drop off?
- Which features get ignored?
- Who are your “power users”—and what do they do differently?
How to build reports in Feathery:
- Use the dashboard’s built-in reporting features for quick insights (like funnel drop-off or completion rates).
- For more advanced stuff, pull data into your analytics tool of choice and set up custom dashboards:
- Cohort analysis: See if new users stick around longer after you launch a new feature.
- Segmentation: Break down engagement by user type, company size, or plan level.
- Retention curves: Find out if users come back after their first visit.
Ignore:
- Reports that just show “total activity”—unless you can tie it back to something actionable.
- Fluffy visualizations that look good but don’t drive decisions.
Step 5: Watch for Common Mistakes
You’re not alone—most teams mess up tracking at first. Here’s what to watch out for:
- Tracking too much: You’ll get lost in a sea of data. Focus on what matters.
- Not defining events clearly: If “report_viewed” means something different to everyone, your data’s useless.
- Forgetting to test: Make sure your events fire as expected. One missed event can throw off a whole quarter’s analysis.
- Ignoring privacy: Make sure you’re not capturing personal info you shouldn’t. Stick to anonymized IDs unless you have consent.
Pro tip:
Write down what each tracked event means (and why you’re tracking it). This keeps everyone on the same page, especially as your dashboard evolves.
Step 6: Iterate—Don’t Try to Get It Perfect the First Time
Engagement tracking isn’t “set it and forget it.” As your dashboard changes, your metrics should too. Review reports every couple of weeks. If you’re not using a metric to make a decision—drop it.
- Add new events as you launch features
- Remove noisy or unused events
- Update your “key metrics” as your goals change
The best dashboards are the ones you actually use to improve your product—not the ones with the fanciest charts.
What’s Worth Doing (and What’s Not)
Worth your time: - Tracking high-value actions and funnel drop-offs - Setting up custom events for your critical workflows - Reviewing reports with your team and acting on them
Not worth your time: - Drowning in every possible metric “just in case” - Obsessing over vanity stats (like pageviews or “engagement scores” with no clear meaning) - Building reports that nobody reads
Wrapping Up
You don’t need a PhD in data science to get real value from your Feathery dashboards. Pick a couple of key engagement metrics, set up tracking, and use the numbers to make small, clear improvements. Keep it simple, ignore the noise, and tweak as you go. That’s how you actually get better—not by chasing “perfect” analytics from day one.