UX friction refers to any part of the user experience that slows down, confuses, or frustrates users as they try to complete a task or goal. From a dead-end link to a confusing page hierarchy, friction can show up in many ways – and its impact can be subtle or costly. In digital products, even small barriers can lead to abandoned shopping carts, missed conversions, or disengaged users.

Path Analysis helps you visualize and understand where UX friction is happening. Tools like UserZoom provide clickstream data that show how users move through a site or app, offering a map of the most common – and most problematic – user journeys. When a user doesn't follow the path you expected, it's often a clue that something's broken or unclear in your flow. Path Analysis reveals these patterns for investigation and improvement.

Examples of UX Friction in the User Journey

Let’s say users are trying to find product specs on your B2B website. Ideally, they’d click: 'Products' → 'Product A' → 'Specifications'. But in your Path Analysis, you notice users are clicking back to the homepage multiple times or circling through unrelated content. That’s friction – and without a clear fix, it could cost you their trust or business.

• Backtracking: When users repeatedly revisit previous pages, it often signals they’re unsure of where to go next.
• Dead ends: A page where the user ends the session or exits without taking action can be a usability red flag.
• Long or illogical paths: If users are going through five or six steps to reach a core destination that should be two clicks away, they’re experiencing unnecessary effort – a key form of UX friction.

The value of spotting these behaviors through Path Analysis is that it adds objectivity to your UX research. Rather than relying solely on assumptions or qualitative feedback, you're seeing what users actually do – and where they struggle.

For teams using DIY research tools like UserZoom, it's essential to know not just that friction exists, but why, and how to fix it. That’s where having access to On Demand Talent – professionals trained to interpret data and connect it with your strategic goals – can save teams from misreading, overlooking, or underutilizing the insights right in front of them.

Once you start using Path Analysis in UserZoom, you’ll likely uncover surprising patterns in how users interact with your site or application. These patterns – or deviations from what you expect users to do – help you locate areas where UX friction is affecting performance. But what exactly should you be looking for?

Backtracking That Signals Confusion

One of the most revealing signs of frustration in Path Analysis is backtracking – when users click forward through a journey, then bounce back to a previous page repeatedly. This can signal they’re confused about where to go next or didn’t find what they expected on the page.

For example, in a test of an e-commerce site, you might find users navigating to a product page, then going back to the main category page multiple times. That pattern suggests unclear product descriptions, missing information, or poorly labeled categories.

Unintended Drop-Off Points

Path Analysis makes it easier to spot dead ends – pages where the user unexpectedly ends their session. In UX research, this can point to usability issues, broken links, or a disconnect between user intent and content.

Pages with high drop-off rates may not have clear next steps, CTAs, or navigation cues. In UserZoom, you can filter your path data to visualize these exits and prioritize them for redesign or content improvements.

Excessively Long or Inefficient Paths

Many users take longer-than-necessary paths to reach their goals. This typically indicates that your site’s navigation is less intuitive than you might think. DIY research teams using UserZoom often uncover paths like:

• 'Homepage' → 'Help' → 'Contact' → 'FAQ' → 'Pricing' → 'Sign Up'

In this example, the user likely wanted pricing info or a path to conversion – but spent several extra clicks trying to get there. These inefficient paths can hurt completion rates and user satisfaction.

Lack of Clear Navigation Hierarchy

Sometimes, Path Analysis reveals a simple but damaging issue: users are ignoring your navigation menu altogether. If clicks cluster around search bars, homepage logos, or support pages, it may suggest that your navigation structure doesn’t reflect what users are actually trying to do.

Why Interpreting These Patterns Requires More Than Just Data

While UserZoom makes it easy to collect path data, many research teams struggle with what to do next. That’s where On Demand Talent from SIVO comes in. Our UX research experts help you make sense of complex user behavior by connecting data patterns to business goals, fixing friction with proven methods, and training your internal teams to do the same going forward.

Understanding common UX problems in navigation testing like these is just the beginning. The true impact comes from interpreting the findings correctly and knowing which changes will actually enhance the experience for your customers. With the right blend of DIY tools like UserZoom and experienced guidance through On Demand Talent, you can make your research faster, smarter, and more actionable – all without sacrificing quality.

Once you've collected user journey data in UserZoom, it’s time to make sense of the paths users have taken. This is often where teams hit a wall – interpreting user behavior data can get messy, especially when paths are not straightforward. You'll likely encounter long trails through your site or app, loops where users revisit pages, or detours that end in unexpected places. These signs of UX friction can easily go unnoticed if you’re not sure what to look for.

What Is Backtracking and Why Does It Matter?

Backtracking happens when a user clicks through several pages and then reverses their path to find information they expected but didn’t see. It might look like a user going from Homepage > Products > Pricing > Products > FAQ. This often indicates confusion, lack of clear CTAs, or poor content hierarchy.

In UserZoom’s Path Analysis view, backtracking shows up as revisits of previous nodes. A few occasional returns may be normal, but consistent loops across many sessions point to system-level navigation issues that can frustrate users.

Key Things to Look for in Path Analysis

• Dead Ends: If users often end their path on the same page without completing your intended action (e.g., purchase, signup), it could mean that page lacks clear next steps.
• High Drop-Off Pages: Look for where users are most likely to exit. These points often suggest unmet expectations or friction in the UX.
• Unpopular Shortcuts: If shortcuts you’ve built (like search bars or quick links) are rarely used, it’s a sign users don’t notice or trust them.
• Multiple Re-routes: When users try several paths to reach the same goal, it can show that your information architecture isn't intuitive.

To make these insights actionable, translate path complexity into questions: Are users finding their way intuitively? Are we overloading them with choices? Is our main call to action getting skipped?

A fictional example: a mid-sized SaaS provider using UserZoom noticed consistent loops between the “Features” and “Pricing” pages. Digging deeper, they realized key information about subscription tiers was hidden below the fold. Once made more prominent, backtracking dropped by 28% in the next round of testing.

Understanding these behaviors requires more than just viewing the data – it requires interpreting it through the lens of user needs. That’s where many DIY research efforts hit a limit. Let’s explore why.

DIY tools like UserZoom have made user experience research more accessible than ever. They allow teams to run usability testing, build user journeys, and gather behavioral data without needing a large research team. But with that accessibility comes a new challenge: having the tool is not the same as having the expertise to interpret what it tells you.

Here’s the reality – when teams rely solely on DIY UX testing tools, they often struggle to:

• Spot the real issue behind the data: Just because users are backtracking on a certain page doesn’t mean that page is the only problem. Understanding the broader behavior requires experience in connecting dots across systems and screens.
• Translate complex visuals into strategy: Heat maps, tree tests, and path analyses are only useful if you know how to extract meaning from them.
• Control bias and guardrails: DIY methods often miss common research pitfalls like confirmation bias, poor task wording, or improper sample sizing – all of which can weaken your findings.

Many teams think, "We already ran the test, so we have the insight." But in reality, interpreting UX backtracking or inefficient user flows in UserZoom often requires a deeper understanding of cognitive psychology, behavior patterns, and human-centered design. These are skills not every product or marketing team has in house.

What’s more, as businesses race to move faster with fewer resources, insights from DIY toolkits are increasingly being used to inform real-time decisions. Without expert oversight, that can get risky. Misinterpreting user behavior might lead you to optimize the wrong page, remove a feature that serves a hidden purpose, or tweak flows in ways that increase friction instead of fixing it.

The good news? You don’t have to become a fully trained UX researcher overnight to make meaningful progress. By partnering with the right experts, you can keep building internal capabilities while getting help where it counts. That’s where On Demand Talent comes into play.

When your team needs to move quickly but lacks the deep UX expertise to make sense of advanced tools like UserZoom, SIVO’s On Demand Talent can step in as a flexible, powerful solution. These are not freelancers or generalists – they’re seasoned consumer insights professionals who can bridge the skills gap and elevate your team’s research efforts from good enough to strategic.

Here’s how On Demand Talent supports deeper UX research:

1. Expert Interpretation of Path Analysis: Our On Demand Talent can help your team interpret complex behavior data in UserZoom, including backtracking patterns, inefficient clicks, and user frustration points that aren’t always visible on the surface. Rather than guess what a spiral path means, bring in a specialist who has seen hundreds of these before.

2. Actionable Recommendations: Interpreting data is just step one. On Demand Talent translates behavioral data into next steps – reworking user flows, highlighting quick wins, and recommending layout or concept testing where needed. They make sure insights are used, not just stored.

3. Flexible, Cost-Effective Support: Whether you need help interpreting a single test or want support across a product launch, On Demand Talent can be brought in for the exact timeframe and scope you need. No long hiring cycles, no training ramp-ups.

4. Capability Building for Your Team: As they work with your internal team, our professionals also share frameworks and best practices. Over time, your team gets more confident in conducting DIY UX research and maximizing platforms like UserZoom.

Imagine you're a retail brand conducting a navigation study and your team discovers multiple drop-offs during checkout. An On Demand Talent UX researcher can quickly spot whether it’s due to unclear form fields, weak trust signals, or a disjointed mobile experience – all while showing your team how they uncovered those root causes. That kind of knowledge sharing grows your team, not just your deliverables.

Whether you’re experimenting with new market research tools or facing limited internal resources, On Demand Talent allows you to enhance your UX research without sacrificing speed or quality. It’s a smarter way to unlock the full value of platforms like UserZoom, without going at it alone.