Next-step Analysis

Next-step analysis shows what users do immediately after a specific page or event, and what share of them each next destination takes.

Next-step analysis is the simplest, single-step form of path analysis: instead of the whole journey it looks only one step ahead, and that focus keeps it safe from the combinatorial explosion of routes, because the number of destinations from one step is limited. It has a clear place in design decisions: when you want to know where a page's recommendation block or next button actually sends users, one step is enough. The common trap is mistaking the top destination's share for success; if the most frequent next step is “back to the previous page” or “go to search,” that signals failure, not successful steering. For the next step to mean anything it must be read beside the exit share: some users have no next step and leave the site there, and ignoring that share paints a rosier picture than reality.