How to Record User Sessions? + Top Pain Points Solved (original) (raw)

I’ve been using session recordings for nearly a decade, and I can confidently say that we’re best friends now. They’re a treasure trove of granular insights into actual user journeys that no analytics platform can replicate.

But it wasn’t always smooth sailing. In fact, our relationship got off to a pretty rocky start. Why? While session recordings are incredibly powerful, they can also feel overwhelming at first.

If you’re only starting with session recordings, let me help you!

In this article, I will show you how to record user sessions and, most importantly, how to analyze them. I will also help you solve some of the most common pain points new session recording users face.

What’s your biggest challenge with understanding user behavior right now?

Knowing your main obstacle is the first step in learning how to record user sessions effectively.

How are you currently trying to analyze user journeys?

Many teams rely on a mix of methods before they learn how to record user sessions for a clearer picture.

What is your primary goal for wanting to record user sessions?

Pinpointing your objective helps you get the most value from session recordings.

You’re ready to master session recordings.

Userpilot can help you not only record user sessions but also connect them to analytics and user feedback for a complete picture. See how to get actionable insights, fast.

How to record and view user sessions step-by-step?

Let’s dive straight into the nitty gritty of recording and viewing user recordings.

1. Choose the right session recording tool for your team

There are at least a dozen session recording tools out there. When choosing one, consider:

• How easy is it to find the right sessions? Pay attention to filtering and segmentation.
• What other analytics and survey features does it support? You need quantitative data and user feedback to get a complete view of user behavior.
• How well does it integrate with your tech stack? It needs to seamlessly sync user data with your CRM, data integration platform, etc.
• What collaboration features does it offer? You want to easily annotate and share sessions and tag teammates.
• How transparent and flexible is the pricing? You need to know how much it costs and if it can grow with your needs.

Userpilot ticks all the boxes, and that’s what I’m currently using.

2. Enable autocapture to capture all user actions

The session recording feature doesn’t actually record the screen.

Instead, it captures all user actions during the session—every click, tap, scroll, or keystroke— and stitches them together to make it look like a recording.

So, technically, you **don’t record the sessions**—the analytics tool does it automatically. To make it work, it uses an autocapture feature (which you need to enable).

Userpilot switches it on for new users by default, but check it—just in case.

Click Configure in the bottom left corner to open the menu, choose Settings, and navigate to the Data Capture & Privacy tab.

If the boxes next to ‘Automatically capture frontend events including all occurrences of clicks, text changes, and form submissions’ and ‘Enable session playback to access recordings of how your users interact with your platform’ are ticked_,_ you’re good to go.

If not, enable it and hit Save.

Enable autocapture and session playback in Userpilot.

3. Click on Sessions in the navigation menu to access the session library

To access the session recordings, click on Sessions in the menu.

Click on Sessions to access the session library.

This will display the playlist library with all sessions.

The session library.

4. Set the Time period and Conditions to choose relevant sections

First, choose the time frame during which the sessions occurred, for example, 30 days, like in the screenshot below.

Next, pick the user segments to investigate.

In Userpilot, you can filter the sessions by company and user properties, like their location and behaviors, like completing an action.

Below, I’ve chosen to watch only sessions of users in the UK who created a webhook.

Use filter settings to narrow down the sessions to watch.

5. View the session recording and analyze key events

To play a user session recording, hit the Play button.

If necessary, adjust the playback speed and enable Skip Inactivity. This automatically cuts out sections when the user does nothing, for example, because they’ve taken a break.

To analyze specific user actions, select the event from the Activity Log in the side panel.

Pick events to watch from the Activity Log.

5 top pain points about session replays solved

When you first start working with session recordings, it’s exciting. The opportunities they offer seem endless. However, when you dive deeper, it turns out that extracting actionable insights from them isn’t as straightforward.

Why?

Let me take you through the common pain points many new session replay users face and how to overcome them.

There are so many session recordings. How do I choose which to analyze first?

Session recording analysis needs to have a purpose, so start by defining your goal. For instance, it could be reducing churn.

Next, use filters to find relevant sessions.

In this case, watching how churned users interacted with your product can help you identify the root causes.

I’m afraid customers might object over privacy violations

All customer concerns about privacy should be covered by your cookie disclosure and consent policy. Best check with your compliance officers if it is.

To ensure they don’t opt out, explain clearly what you do to protect their data.

In Userpilot, you can mask sensitive data like passwords, payment details, or hidden text inputs. You can also choose to exclude specific CSS elements from your session recordings.

Privacy settings in Userpilot.

To further reassure your users, you can add that Userpilot is 100% compliant with HIPAA, GDPR, and SOC 2 Type II standards, so they don’t have to worry about data privacy and security.

Session recordings seem so out of context to me

Watching random sessions is pointless. How can you find anything useful if you don’t know what you’re looking for?

So, first, use ‘traditional’ web analytics tools to gain quantitative insights into what happens. For example, use funnel analysis to find friction points in the user journey and only then watch related sessions.

Funnel analysis in Userpilot.

I can’t share findings with my teammates in an easy way

Your session replay software should allow you to share session recordings by email or by sending a link. You can also share the point at which you want the person to start watching.

The best session recording tools, including Userpilot, offer much more. You can annotate specific session parts, tag your teammates, and flag bugs. So, all communication happens within the app.

Collaboration features in Userpilot session recordings.

I don’t know what to do after analyzing session recordings

How you act on the insights depends on the issue you’ve discovered.

Here’s how I do it:

• Follow up with users and analyze additional reports to understand the issue.
• Brainstorm ideas on how to resolve the issues and form hypotheses. For example: “Replacing the ‘Add’ button with a clickable link will reduce the time to convert.”
• Test the hypotheses, for instance, through A/B testing or by watching more session recordings.
• Implement changes and monitor their impact.

Conclusion

Session recordings help you understand user behavior on your website or inside the product. For maximum impact, use them together with other analytics tools and leverage filters to drill into specific user actions.

If you want to learn more about Userpilot session recordings, book the demo!

FAQs about user session recordings

Let’s wrap up by answering three questions about session recordings I often hear.

What is a session recording?

A session recording, or a session replay, is a recreation of how a user interacts with your product or website – their every click, scroll, and text input.

Sessions recordings offer valuable insights, for example, where users face usability issues or experience bugs.

What is the best session recording tool?

Userpilot is a robust session recording software.

It offers:

• Advanced segmentation and filtering options.
• Collaboration and sharing features.
• Intuitive playback features.

In addition to the recordings, it supports traditional analytics tools like Trends, Retention, Funnel, and Paths analysis. You can also run in-app surveys to understand the why behind user behavior.

Bear in mind, though, that Userpilot is an in-app session recording software. For website session recordings, you will need different tools if that’s what you need.

How to monitor user activities?

The most popular ways to monitor user activities are:

• Use web analytics tools like Google Analytics to analyze user behavior on web pages.
• Track user actions inside your app with analytics software like Userpilot.
• Use session replay tools to visualize user interactions with your product or website.