Data Model
User profiles
User profiles are automatically created when you identify a user with our web-client, mobile SDKs, or backend APIs. User profiles are also created when an anonymous user views a survey for the first time.
User profiles are the top level object of all user data in your Refiner environment. Next to meta data such as the ID of a user, the creation date, etc., a user profiles has other data objects (see below) linked to it.
The User Detail Panels gives quick access to all information we have for a given user.
The panel can be easily accessed by clicking on a user’s name on the Project Overview, the Response List or in the User Segments page.
Survey responses
Survey responses are created when a user interacts with a survey. A survey response is always linked to a user profile. One user profile can have multiple survey responses.
The survey response data object holds timestamps such as first viewed at, completed at, dismissed at, etc.
Survey responses without any associated response data are called “Survey View”.
Survey responses usually also include response data provided by a user, as well as contextual data that was attached to the response. Survey response data is stored in the same way as user profile data using Traits (see below).
By default, Refiner stores survey response data after every step of a survey. In the event that a user abandones a survey half way through, you’ll still see their answers to the first questions in your Refiner dashboard. Read more about “Partial Responses” here.
Traits
In the user profile view, you’ll find all “Traits” that we have on record for a given user. The table contains data you imported when identifying a user, as well as all response data provided by the user.
Traits are used to store user profile data, as well as survey response data. Traits are basically just a description of the data that we store in our database. Traits can be strings, numbers, boolean values or dates.
Traits are automatically generated whenever we receive data for a user profile. For example when you call the identifyUser method or our web-client, or a survey response is recorded.
You can see and manage all traits in your environment on a dedicated Traits page.
Tracked events
Next to importing user traits, Refiner also lets you track behavioral data. For example, when a user performs certain actions in your app, you can send that info information to Refiner in form of User Events. Tracked events can then be used to to launch in-product surveys or segment your user list based on user behaviour.
An event description is automatically created whenever we track an event for the first time. You can view and manage all event description on the Events page.
Segments
A user profile can be member of multiple Segments. Segments play a crucial part in Refiner as they allow you to target specific user groups with surveys, trigger Alerts and Integrations, or help you to drill down on in Reporting Dashboard.