Product Analytics: Events, Properties, and the Analysis Toolkit
What the exam tests
Product Analytics centers on the event model. An event is a tracked user action (e.g., sign_up). Events carry event properties (per-action details like plan_type), while user properties describe the person and persist across events. User IDs stitch anonymous activity to a known user; device IDs cover pre-login behavior. Understand cohorts (groups defined by shared behavior or traits), segments, and how identify and setUserProperties calls shape attribution.
Core analyses
Know each chart's purpose: Event Segmentation (counts/uniques over time), Funnel (ordered steps with conversion windows), Retention (return behavior by cohort), User Composition and Pathfinder (flow between events). Be clear on unique vs. total counts and how a funnel's conversion window changes results.
Traps to watch
- Confusing event vs. user properties when a question asks where a value should live.
- Forgetting that funnel steps are order-sensitive and that a too-short window undercounts conversions.
- Assuming retention measures a single return rather than repeated behavior across periods.
- Mixing up counts (all occurrences) with uniques (distinct users).
Rule of thumb
If a value describes the action, it is an event property; if it describes the person over time, it is a user property. Worked example: to measure onboarding drop-off, build a funnel sign_up → verify_email → first_project, set a 7-day window, and segment by acquisition channel to isolate where users stall.