Goals in CUX allow you to create a segment of visits in which users performed the desired action. They provide a straightforward way to measure conversion and compare the performance of variants, while also giving insight into other characteristics of the users who converted, such as device type or behavioral signals like Rage clicks, Zooming, or Chaotic scrolling. Goals also provide quick access to visit recordings containing the actions configured in the Goal. By setting up separate Goals for each variant, you can identify:
- The conversion rate for each variant.
- Differences in visit characteristics, such as traffic sources or engagement patterns.
- Behavioral signals that may explain why some variants perform better or worse.
How to compare A/B test variants using Goals:
- Create a Goal for your first variant
- Name your Goal accordingly.
Set the first step as your Variant A by choosing the corresponding type of event:
- Page Load for URL or its parameter,
- Click for element ID,
- Data Layer for data layer values.
If you already have Waterfalls created for this test, you can simply click Manage → Convert to Goal so all steps and configurations are transferred.
- Add the key event
- This step represents the main conversion of your experiment (e.g., adding a product from a cross-sell section to the cart).
- In some cases, the key event may be the same as the variant event (e.g., testing which CTA is more clickable using an element ID).
- The order of events in a Goal does not matter – Goals only check whether the event occurred during the visit, regardless of sequence.
- Add additional intermediate steps (optional)
- You may add more events to better understand differences in segments.
- Keep in mind that each extra step narrows the segment of visits included in the Goal. This setup can be useful for exploring additional hypotheses but should not be used for evaluating core test results.
- Save the Goal
- At this point CUX will begin filtering data for this variant.
- Create a Goal for the second variant
- Click the contextual menu icon (three dots in the top right corner of the Goal) → Copy.
- Change the variant step to Variant B while keeping all other steps identical. This ensures the Goals remain comparable.
- Compare results
- Wait for both Goals to filter data.
- Ensure the same time range is selected for both variants.
- If a Goal shows zero or very few visits, verify that events are correctly configured and that enough data has been collected.
Example: Imagine you are testing two different newsletter sign-up banners on the homepage:
- Variant A highlights a discount for first-time subscribers.
- Variant B emphasizes access to exclusive content.
By setting up a Goal with a variant step and a conversion step (successful sign-up), you can measure which banner drives more sign-ups. Beyond conversion rates, segment comparison might show that:
- Visitors from organic search respond better to Variant A (discount-driven).
- Returning visitors are more likely to convert on Variant B (content-driven).
- Variant B has more Rage clicks, indicating some friction in the form design.
This deeper context helps you understand not only which variant wins but also why.