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A few days ago, I came across a UX community on the X platform that discussed user drop-off rates during mobile app onboarding. This highlighted user behavior and behavior analysis.

Observing these behaviors made me reflect on the study of user attitudes, mental models, and the overall experience. It focuses on motivating users to complete tasks quickly and successfully.

How do we understand users’ motivation, attitude, and behavior to create a seamless mobile or web app experience? By reducing friction and enabling them to complete tasks effortlessly?

A method known as Behavior Analysis plays a crucial role in UX (User Experience).

In this article from Design Journal, we will provide insights into behavior analysis and how to conduct it effectively.

What is behavior analysis?

Behavior Analysis refers to studying user behavior and how they interact with digital products such as mobile apps or websites.

It involves various processes to gather data-driven insights that help optimize and craft a more intuitive user experience.

This is why behavior analysis is crucial:

Reduces friction that hinders user experience.
Enhances usability by addressing user needs in mobile apps and websites.
Improves conversion rates while minimizing drop-off rates.
Enables businesses to predict user behavior for better decision-making.

Key elements of behavior analysis

These essential elements help track and analyze user behavior to improve the overall user experience:

User Journey Mapping: A simple yet powerful method to understand user actions as they move through different steps of a specific feature. User journey mapping helps identify obstacles and capture user emotions while interacting with the application.
Heatmaps & Click Tracking: Tools like Useberry can track where users click, hover, or engage within the application. This helps designers identify key areas of interest and optimize the layout for better usability.
A/B Testing: It compares two screen or user flow versions to determine which performs better. It helps refine the design based on user engagement, feedback, and data-driven insights.

Conducting behavior analysis in UX

Behavior analysis in UX involves studying how users interact with a product to identify usability issues and improve their experience. A structured approach ensures accurate insights and meaningful improvements.

Develop a usability testing plan

The foundation of behavior analysis is creating a well-structured usability testing plan.

This plan should clearly outline the test’s goals and objectives, such as evaluating navigation efficiency, task completion rates, or interaction patterns.

It should also define test scenarios replicating real-world use cases, ensuring practical and actionable results.

Establishing measurable success metrics, like error rates or time taken to complete tasks, helps objectively assess usability. A well-defined plan keeps the testing process focused and prevents unnecessary deviations.

Prepare the testing environment and tools

A well-prepared testing environment is essential for accurate behavior analysis. All required applications, devices, and platforms should be set up to match actual user conditions, ensuring consistency across multiple devices and browsers.

The environment should be stable and free of distractions to prevent external factors from influencing user behavior.

Essential tools like screen recording software, heatmaps, and click-tracking applications should be integrated to capture user interactions comprehensively.

A structured data collection framework ensures that all relevant information is recorded for later analysis.

Recruit and observe real users

Observing real users is key to understanding genuine behavior patterns.

Participants should be representative of the target audience, considering factors like demographics, technical proficiency, and familiarity with similar products.

Once recruited, users should be given clear instructions on tasks without being led toward specific actions, allowing natural interactions to unfold.

The think-aloud method, where users verbalize their thoughts while navigating, can provide valuable insights into their decision-making processes.

Observing users without interference ensures that usability issues are identified organically, leading to more authentic feedback.

Record and analyze sessions

Recording and analyzing user sessions is crucial for gathering actionable insights.

Video and audio recordings help capture screen interactions, cursor movements, and navigation patterns, while detailed note-taking highlights moments of confusion, frustration, or delight.

Heatmaps and click-tracking tools visualize engagement levels, showing which elements attract the most attention or cause drop-offs.

Once the data is consolidated, patterns and trends can be identified, making it easier to pinpoint areas for improvement.

A thorough analysis of recorded sessions ensures that actual user behavior rather than assumptions drive design changes.

Essential tools for behavior analysis:

Google Analytics: Tracks website traffic and user behavior.
Useberry: Provides heat maps, session recordings, and surveys.
Crazy Egg: Offers click tracking and A/B testing.
Google Docs: Write a proposal or plan and provide insight from the users.
Figma Products: Of course, to design and brainstorming in FigJam.

Testing duration and best practices:

Typically, each user tests at least 40 minutes for testing one or three features and 20 minutes for an interview of the overall experience and suggestions for improvement.
Encourage users to use the “Think Aloud” method, encouraging verbalization of their thoughts while using the app.
Listen more than you guide; only assist users if they are truly stuck.

These are simple yet effective ways to conduct behavior testing to identify user pain points and needs.

By doing so, you can collect valuable data that helps predict user behavior and make informed design decisions by introducing targeted solutions.

Behavior analysis examples

Now, let’s explore behavior analysis examples in detail: Amazon and Netflix.

Amazon checkout and “Swipe to buy with 1-click”

Amazon’s current checkout flow consists of 6 steps:

Verify items in cart
Select shipping address
Select shipping method
Select payment method
Review order
Order Confirmation

Would you still use Amazon if you had to go through six steps every time you made a purchase to complete your order? :’) If so, you might need to leave my group chat—haha, just kidding! Now, let’s get back to the point.

This process may seem complex, requiring multiple steps to complete a purchase.

But did you know that Amazon has also introduced a “One-Click Buy Now” button, allowing users to complete their purchase instantly with just a single click?

“One-Click Buy Now” button changed to “Buy Now” button

Before diving into the core of Amazon’s checkout optimization, let’s step back and understand the thought process behind this successful implementation.

As we know, making informed design decisions and offering better user solutions requires a deep understanding of users and their behavior. This is where Behavior Analysis in UX plays a crucial role.

Amazon remains a standout ecommerce company, striving to solve customer pain through innovative solutions. As a customer, I truly appreciate their continuous efforts to improve the shopping experience.

By changing “One-Click Buy Now” to a more direct and concise “Buy Now”, Amazon enhanced clarity, making the call-to-action shorter, more intuitive, and user-friendly.

This feature has been introduced and rolled out since 2017, which earned them billions over the years.

Bonus insights: How Amazon conducts user behavior analysis

According to Amazon’s 2021 Consumer Behavior Report, we can analyze and reflect on how Amazon conducts behavior analysis using the following methods:

Clickstream Data Analysis: Amazon tracks every click, scroll, and navigation pattern on its website and mobile app. This helps them understand which products users view the most, how long they stay on a page, and detect abandonment patterns (e.g., users leaving without purchasing).
Heatmap & Eye-Tracking Studies: Amazon uses heatmaps to analyze where users click the most and which sections they ignore. If users don’t interact with the “Buy Now” button, Amazon may redesign it, change its color, or reposition it for better visibility.
A/B Testing for UX Improvements: Amazon frequently compares two versions of a webpage or feature to determine which one performs better. For example, Amazon tested multiple layouts for Prime subscription prompts before selecting the one that maximized sign-ups.
Personalized Recommendations: Amazon’s recommendation engine suggests relevant products based on user behavior. If you buy a phone case, Amazon might suggest screen protectors and chargers to increase cross-selling opportunities.
Cart Abandonment & Checkout Behavior: Amazon monitors why users abandon their carts and optimizes the checkout process accordingly. Amazon introduced One-Click Checkout to reduce cart abandonment, simplifying the purchasing process.
Sentiment Analysis from Reviews & Feedback: Amazon uses Natural Language Processing (NLP) and AI to analyze customer reviews, ratings, and feedback. If many users complain about confusing size charts, Amazon may add more apparent sizing guides to improve the experience.
Predictive Analytics & Future Behavior Forecasting: Amazon doesn’t just analyze past behavior—it uses AI to predict future behavior. For example, if you bought protein powder last month, Amazon will remind you to reorder before you run out.

Netflix: The viewing experience issue

Netflix, the world’s leading streaming platform, provides millions of users a vast selection of movies and TV shows.

While having a massive content library is a significant advantage, it also presents a serious UX challenge of how users find something to watch without feeling overwhelmed.

According to Netflix İn Leisure, users would spend too much time browsing content, struggling with decision fatigue. If users don’t find something engaging quickly, they might exit the app or cancel their subscription.

This created several UX challenges:

Users felt overwhelmed by too many choices, leading to indecision.
Many users left the platform without selecting a show, increasing drop-off rates.
Subscription cancellations (churn) increased due to frustration with content discovery.

Netflix needed to optimize its recommendation system to ensure that users spent more time watching than searching.

To solve this issue, Netflix implemented AI-powered behavior analysis techniques to understand user preferences and personalize real-time recommendations.

Like Amazon optimized its checkout process to reduce friction, Netflix focused on eliminating browsing fatigue by leveraging data-driven insights.

Bonus insights: How Netflix conducts user behavior analysis

Clickstream Data & Viewing Behavior Analysis: Netflix tracks every click, pause, rewind, fast-forward, and watch duration to understand user behavior patterns. If a user frequently rewinds a scene, Netflix assumes it’s a critical moment and may suggest similar content.

If a user skips intros, Netflix enables a “Skip Intro” button to improve the experience.
If a user abandons a show halfway through, Netflix avoids recommending similar content.

Heatmaps & Eye-Tracking Studies for UI Optimization: Netflix conducts heatmap and eye-tracking studies to see which interface parts attract the most attention.

The iconic thumbnail design gets more clicks, and Netflix prioritizes that visual style.
If specific categories are ignored, Netflix adjusts its placement or visibility.

A/B Testing for UI & Recommendation Improvements: Netflix runs continuous A/B tests to determine which UI elements and content layouts drive more engagement.

Different homepage grid layouts (more thumbnails vs. fewer but larger images).
Thumbnails with characters’ faces vs. action shots (which gets more clicks?).
Autoplay trailers enabled vs. disabled (does it increase watch time or annoy users?).

Predictive Analytics for Personalized Notifications: Netflix’s AI doesn’t just analyze past behavior—it predicts what users will want to watch next.

If a user watches a comedy, Netflix sends an alert when a new comedy is released.
If a user binges crime documentaries, Netflix prioritizes true-crime content in their recommendations.

Like Amazon’s checkout optimization, Netflix leveraged behavior analysis, AI, and A/B testing to eliminate friction and decision fatigue.

By tracking viewing behavior, personalizing recommendations, and optimizing its interface, Netflix transformed its UX into one of the most engaging digital experiences in the world.

Conclusion

Designing a digital product might seem straightforward, but crafting an intuitive user experience that people rely on daily is a deep and complex process.

As designers, it’s about building interfaces and understanding human behavior, motivations, and frustrations.

Empathizing with users (empathy mapping) takes time, effort, and continuous learning. It requires in-depth user research, honest conversations, behavior analysis, and data-driven decision-making.

As we’ve seen in Amazon and Netflix’s behavior analysis, both brands didn’t just make assumptions. They listened to user behavior, identified friction points, and optimized their experiences to create seamless, engaging journeys.

The key takeaway? Think like a user. Step into their shoes, experience their challenges firsthand, and design solutions that make their lives easier.

Because at the end of the day, delighting users with great UX isn’t just about aesthetics or functionality—it’s about creating experiences that feel effortless, intuitive, and human.

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Frequently asked questions

What is behavioral analysis?

Behavioral analysis studies user interactions, decision-making patterns, and responses to digital products or interfaces.

It helps identify usability issues, optimize user experience, and improve design effectiveness by analyzing how users navigate, engage, and complete tasks.

What is an example of behavior analysis?

An example of behavior analysis in UX is usability testing, where users are observed while completing specific tasks on a website or app.

For instance, during an ecommerce usability test, analysts might track how users search for products, interact with filters, and complete the checkout process. Insights from this analysis can help improve navigation, reduce drop-offs, and enhance the overall shopping experience.

What are the three types of behavior analysis?

The three main types of behavior analysis are descriptive, which involves observing and documenting user behavior without intervention; experimental, where controlled experiments test how users react to specific design changes; and predictive, which uses data-driven models to anticipate future user behaviors and optimize experiences accordingly.

What are the three goals of behavior analysis?

The primary goals of behavior analysis are to understand user behavior, which involves identifying patterns, preferences, and challenges that users face; to improve usability by refining design elements to enhance efficiency and satisfaction; and to enhance user engagement by ensuring that interactions are smooth, intuitive, and aligned with user expectations.

Behavior Analysis in UX: Meaning And Examples

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Theara Kim

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