The Time to First Use dashboard widget shows the average, minimum, and maximum times it takes new visitors to first interact with one or more events compared to the previous time period. This data helps you discover how long it takes new visitors to use certain events (Pages, Features, and Track Events) 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 events.
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 event for the first time. This is the time from a visitor's first event recorded in Pendo to the first time they used the 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 event within the selected date range.
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 visitor to use the 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 visitor to use the event, excluding outliers, represented by the far-right line.
Tip: If at least 25% of visitors use the event on the first day, the minimum and lower quartile values likely show 0 days and the box plot appears compressed near the beginning of the timeline. (This means visitors are finding that event quickly!) If average, median, and upper quartile values are lagging behind, consider looking 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 event early on. Consider focusing on improving another event or reevaluating that event selection. For example, you might want to modify the event if it's a required step, such as logging in or completing profile information, but doesn't deliver any value.
Trending values show the current average and if the time has increased or decreased relative to the previous time period. Hover over the trending value to see the percent of change.
The widget displays the events set up for the selected app. If you modify the events for an app, you can see those changes the next time you load the widget, by adding or updating the widget, navigating to the Dashboard, or refreshing the browser.
Note: It's possible to see negative values for Track Events if the app setting Count Track Events as time in app is turned off. This is because, by default, Track Events aren't 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
- Navigate to a dashboard, then select + Add Widget in the top-right corner of the page.
- Select Time to First Use from the list of available widgets.
- Update each field to your preference.
- Name. Display name of the widget as it appears on your dashboard.
- Date Range. Time period where event usage is measured.
- App. App queried for event selection and product usage data.
- Events. Page, Feature, or Track Event selection.
- Segment. Users included in the analysis for usage data. Larger segments generally result in less variable data.
- Account. Accounts included in the analysis for usage data.
- Select Save to add the widget to your dashboard.
For more information on general dashboard and widget functionality, see Dashboards.