User Trait

A user trait is a descriptive attribute of a user — plan, role, city, device — used to segment and compare users.

A user trait answers 'who is this user', versus an event which answers 'what did they do'; a powerful breakdown is built when you combine the two ('how much do paid-plan users use this feature'). There are two families of trait that must not be blurred: behavioral traits derived from the user's own actions (device, entry source, new or returning) and declared traits stated by the user or another system (plan, role, age). The first family is always available to an analytics tool because it comes from behavior; the second needs external data and can be stale or wrong. The common trap is fully trusting a declared trait; an attribute a user filled in once may no longer be true.