UX Glossary · C
Clickstream
Also: User path · Path analysis
The recorded sequence of pages and actions a user moves through, in order.
A clickstream is the ordered record of what a user did: pages visited, actions taken, in sequence. Aggregated across many users it shows the paths people actually take, as opposed to the paths the design assumed.
What it reveals
The valuable patterns are the deviations. Loops, where people return to the same page repeatedly, usually mean the page did not answer their question. Back-and-forth between two pages often means information the user needs to compare is split across both. And sharp drop-offs at a single step point at where to look next.
It answers where. It does not answer why, and that limit is worth stating plainly: knowing 60% abandon at the shipping step does not tell you whether the cost surprised them, the form was too long, or the delivery date was too late.
Privacy
Clickstream data is personal data under the GDPR when it can be linked to an identifiable person. Session recording tools capturing form input are a genuine risk, and the sensible default is masking input by default rather than remembering to exclude fields individually.
In practice
The pattern that works is quantitative to find where, qualitative to find why. Analytics locates the cliff, and five usability tests on that step explain it.