Golden Path Analyzer: Using Divide-and-conquer to cluster Web Clickstreams
Kamal Ali
Yahoo
This talk presents a novel algorithm and deployment that analyzes
clickstreams during a web browsing session with respect to a success
criterion such as ability to easily navigate a web site to purchase a
product. It finds the shortest 'golden' paths taken by users (panelists)
who succeeded at the task. The paths taken by the rest of the users are then
analyzed with respect to each golden path. GPA determines whether a given
user took a golden path or not, where she dropped off that golden path, and
whether or not she rejoined that golden path or joined another path. These
analyses allow one to find which web pages are problematic, i.e. those on
which a substantial percentage of the visitors drop off. They also allow one
to identify links that are problematic. A link is deemed problematic if it
distracts users from proceeding on a golden path. The system also provides a
mechanism that allows one to determine what percentage of the panelists used
one path (eg: search) versus another (eg: browse) to get to a target page.
The system has been used in 20 client engagements, has been implemented in
Perl and Visual Basic, runs in a Win2k/Intel environment and outputs a
bundle of interlinked HTML pages.
Date: Wednesday, January 21 |
Time: 4:15-5:30PM |
Place: Cordura 100 |
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