Funnel analysis: conversion window, step order, who counts

Theo

My onboarding dashboard says only 58% of new users create a group. Am I paying for people who leave in the first minute?

You

58% of whom, though?

Alex Tutor

The right first question. A funnel is a sequence of steps with the share of users who reach each one. Its result depends on three choices: who enters, the order of the steps, and how long people have to take them.

Let's use a small sample so we can see every person: 12 users who signed up last Monday, with the hours after sign-up at which each did each step for the first time.

Alex Tutor

Dataset · 12 rows

12 new Halves users: hours to each onboarding step

Empty cell: the user never did that step.

Download CSV

Columns
user_id: User id
joined_via_invite: true if the user signed up by accepting an invite into someone else's group
group_created_h: Hours from sign-up to creating their first group
member_invited_h: Hours to sending their first invite
first_expense_h: Hours to their first expense
expense_after_invite_h: Hours to their first expense added after the invite

Data

user_id	joined_via_invite	group_created_h	member_invited_h	first_expense_h	expense_after_invite_h
f01	false	0.1	0.3	1	1
f02	false	0.2	2	30	30
f03	false	0.5	100	0.6
f04	false	3	5	200	200
f05	false	0.1	50	0.3

Show 7 more rows

f06	false
f07	false	26	27	28	28
f08	false	0.4		2
f09	true			0.5
f10	true		4	6	6
f11	true
f12	true			3

Recount Theo's first step the way his dashboard does: everyone who signed up enters, and we count who created a group.

Alex Tutor

Question 1

All 12 users enter the funnel. What share of them created a group (any time)? Give it in %, one decimal.

Your answer

Units: % (e.g. 45.5)

Seven of twelve, the same 58%. Now look at who didn't: f06, and all four users with joined_via_invite = true.

Those four accepted a friend's invite. They landed straight in an existing group, so there was nothing for them to create.

Theo

So they're not dropping out at all.

Alex Tutor

They skipped a step that was never theirs. That's the “who counts” choice: a funnel only makes sense for people for whom every step applies.

Alex Tutor

Question 2

How should the “sign-up → group created” funnel treat users who joined through an invite?

Choose one answerKeep them in: they signed up, so they belong in every sign-up funnelLeave them out of this funnel and track them in their own, e.g. joined → first expenseCount them as having created a group, since they're in oneDelete them from the data as noise

Maya

Among the eight self-signups it's 7 of 8 then. But how long do we wait before we call someone lost?

Alex Tutor

That's the conversion window: the time a user has to complete a step, measured from entering the funnel. Like any time window in a metric, it has to be written down.

You

f07 created a group after 26 hours. With a one-day window, f07 would count as lost.

Alex Tutor

Check the whole group of eight with a 24-hour window.

Alex Tutor

Question 3

Only the 8 self-signups enter. With a 24-hour conversion window, what share created a group? In %.

Your answer

Units: %

75% in a day, 87.5% in a week. Both are correct, and they're different metrics. A window shorter than the product's rhythm cuts off slow but real users. A very long one means waiting weeks for an answer.

Maya

The funnel I care about is longer: group created, then a member invited, then an expense. Within a week.

Alex Tutor

In a strict order funnel a step counts only if it happens after the previous one. So the expense has to come after the invite: that's expense_after_invite_h. Seven days is 168 hours.

You

Eight self-signups enter, and I need all three steps, in order, each within 168 hours.

Alex Tutor

Question 4

8 self-signups enter. Funnel: group created → member invited → expense, strict order, each step within 168 hours of sign-up. What share completes it? In %, one decimal.

Your answer

Units: % (e.g. 45.5)

Now drop the order: all three steps within 168 hours, in any sequence, using first_expense_h. That gives 5 of 8, 62.5%.

Maya

From 37.5% to 62.5% just by changing a setting? Who are those people?

Alex Tutor

Find them in the table: users who pass with any order but fail with strict order.

Alex Tutor

Question 5

With any order (all three steps within 168 hours, using first_expense_h), 5 of 8 complete the funnel instead of 3. Which users make the difference? Select all that apply.

f03 and f05 logged an expense first and invited later. Strict order calls them failures; they may simply show friends a balance before inviting them. A step order is a belief about the right path, and the data can prove it wrong.

And f04 finished the steps in order but added the expense after 200 hours. With no window, strict order gives 4 of 8, 50%.

Maya

So 37.5%, 50% or 62.5%. Which one is our onboarding conversion?

Alex Tutor

Whichever one we define and keep. A funnel is a metric like any other: who enters, the steps, the order rule and the window, written next to the chart.

Theo

And invitees get their own funnel, so they stop dragging mine down.

Alex Tutor

Question 6Short answer · AI-checked task

Write the definition of the Halves onboarding funnel in 3–5 lines: who enters, the steps, the order rule and the conversion window. Justify one of your choices with this lesson's data.

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Alex Tutor

Theo's 58% wasn't wrong arithmetic. It answered a question nobody meant to ask.

Alex Tutor

That’s the lesson. You answered every task — nicely done.

Next lesson: Reading a funnel without fooling yourself