The Core Events: Time to First Use widget shows the average, minimum, and maximum times it takes new visitors to first interact with a core event with trending changes compared to the previous time period. This data helps you discover how long it takes new visitors to use the key features in your app. With additional research in Visitor Reports and Data Explorer, you can understand how different user segments onboard, then use guides and product design to accelerate their adoption of these core features.
This data builds on the findings from the Core Events: Account Retention by Usage Widget. Core events are selected and long-term retention with early adoption is validated. From there, it's crucial to understand how long it takes users to discover your core events and steer their user journey toward them as soon as possible.
To learn more about core events, see Using Core Events Overview. To learn more about the dashboard, see Dashboard Overview.
Requirements
- Pendo Admin users can set up core events
- Any Pendo user can use the Time to First Use widget
Understand the data
The Time to First Use widget shows a box plot and mean average of the time it takes visitors to interact with each core event for the first time. This is the time from a visitor's first event in Pendo to the first time they used the core event. The box plot consists of the minimum, lower quartile, median, upper quartile, and maximum times with the mean average shown as a dot in the box plot.
To be included in the calculation, visitors must have their first event ever and use the core event within the selected date range to be included in the calculation. Visitors must also have their first event ever within the date range to be eligible.
Hover over the plot to show additional detailed data, including the precise number of days for each point on the plot and the number of eligible visitors in the data set.
- Minimum: Fewest days it took a user to use the core event, excluding outliers, represented by the far-left line
- Lower Quartile: Median of the lower half of the data set, represented by the left edge of the box
- Median: Median of the data, represented by the line in the middle of the box
- Average: Mean average of the data set, represented by the black dot
- Upper Quartile: Median of the upper half of the data set, represented by the right edge of the box
- Maximum: Most days it took a user to use the core event, excluding outliers, represented by the far-right line
If a significant number of visitors—at least 25%—use the core event on the first day, the Minimum and Lower Quartile values likely show 0 days and the box plot is compressed against the beginning of the timeline. (This means visitors are finding that core event quickly!) If Average, Median, and Upper Quartile values are lagging behind, look for opportunities to repeat the experience of the faster visitors.
If the entire box plot is compressed into the beginning of the timeline, most of your visitors are finding that core event early on. Focus on improving another core event or reevaluate that core event selection—it may be that it's a required step, like logging in or completing profile information, that users must do but doesn't deliver any value.
Trending shows the current average and if the time has increased or decreased relative to the previous time period. Hover over trending to see the percent of change.
The widget displays the core events set up for the selected app. If the core events for an app are changed, the widget reflects those changes the next time it is loaded, either by adding or updating the widget, navigating to the Dashboard, or refreshing the browser.
Seeing negative numbers? If the app setting Count Track Events Received For a Visitor As Time in Application is disabled, it's possible for this widget to show negative values for track events. This is because, by default, track events are not included in calculations for the time spent in the application. To learn more about this setting and how to enable it, see our Tech Note.
Add the widget to the Dashboard
- Select + Add Widget in the top-right corner of the Dashboard.
- Select Core Events: Time to First Use from the list of available widgets.
- Edit the widget to select the Name, Date Range, Segment, and App.
- Name: Display name on the Dashboard
- Date Range: Time period during which core event usage is measured
- Segment: Visitors queried for usage data (larger segments will have less volatility in the data)
- App: App queried for core event selection and product usage data
- Select Save Widget to add the widget to your Dashboard.
Edit or remove the widget
You can edit or remove an existing widget from the Dashboard by selecting the More ellipses (...) in the top-right corner of the widget.
- Edit Widget opens the Edit Widget module where you can change all the widget parameters.
- Remove Widget permanently removes the widget from the Dashboard.