Analyzing Results5 min read

Segments & Breakdowns

Slice your results down to a group of visitors — like mobile users or email traffic — to spot patterns. Powerful, with one important rule to use them honestly.

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Segments & Breakdowns

Look at your results for just one group of visitors — mobile users, email traffic, returning customers — to spot patterns the overall number can hide. Powerful, with one golden rule to keep it honest.

Your headline result mixes everyone together. Sometimes the interesting story is in a slice: maybe a new layout wins big on mobile but loses on desktop. Segmentslet you narrow the whole results page down to one group of visitors so you can see those patterns. The numbers, the chart, and any export all follow your filter while it's on.

What you can break results down by

Traffic SourceDirect, Search, Social, Referral, Email, Paid
Device TypeMobile, Desktop, Tablet
Visitor TypeNew vs Returning
IdentityIdentified (logged-in) vs Anonymous
BrowserChrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge, Opera
Operating SystemWindows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android
Day of WeekWeekday vs Weekend
CountryWherever your visitors are
UTM tagsSource, Medium, Campaign on your links
Custom dimensionAny custom property you send with the SDK

You'll only see the breakdowns Otter A/B actually has data for — the list grows on its own as different kinds of visitor arrive. And you can combine several at once, like Mobile + Email.

How to use it

  1. 1

    Open the Filter control

    On the results page, open the Filter control and choose the values you want — for example, Device Type: Mobile. The page updates instantly.
  2. 2

    Narrow further, or clear

    Add more filters to slice tighter, or use the clear (✕) button to remove one and go back to everyone.

The golden rule

Don't pick your winner from a segment. When you slice results into a small group and hunt for a standout, you'll often find one purely by chance — the smaller the group, the more likely the “win” is a fluke. Make your ship decision on the overall result, and treat anything exciting you spot in a segment as an idea to confirm with a fresh, dedicated test. The Experiment health card shows a reminder whenever a segment filter is on.

Segment tips

Use segments to ask better questions, not to declare answers. “Mobile loved this” is a great hypothesis for a mobile-only follow-up test.

Clear filters before you read the real result. It's easy to forget a filter is on and misread a slice as the whole. Check the Experiment health card — it tells you when you're looking at a slice.

Exports match your filter. A CSV or PDF taken while a segment is on contains only that group — handy when you want to share a specific cut, easy to misread if you forget.

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers to the questions teams ask most about this part of Otter A/B.