This article explains how metadata and segments work in Novus. Understanding these concepts helps you group your users and analyze their behavior based on specific characteristics.

What is metadata

Metadata is extra information about the people using your application. It helps you understand who your users are, not just what they do. Novus separates metadata into two categories:

• Visitor metadata: Information about the individual person, such as their email address, job role, or the date they first signed in.
• Account metadata: Information about the company or organization the person belongs to, such as their company size, industry, or subscription plan.

Each metadata field is formatted as a specific data type so that Novus can read it correctly. Common types include text, true or false values, whole numbers, decimal numbers, dates and times, and lists of items.

What are segments

A segment is a specific group of visitors or accounts. You use segments to filter your data or target specific users for a new feature launch or guide. There are three main ways to build segments in Novus:

• Metadata segments: Groups based on metadata values. For example, you can create a segment of visitors whose subscription plan is "enterprise".
• Usage segments: Groups based on whether users interacted with a specific page or click event within a certain number of days.
• Compound segments: A combination of multiple segments. These are typically used to slowly roll out a new feature to multiple groups at the same time.

Predefined segments

To help you get started, Novus automatically creates several standard segments for you to use right away:

• Active Visitors (30d): Visitors who have been active in the last 30 days.
• Inactive Visitors (90d+): Visitors who have not been active in the last 90 days.
• New Visitors (7d): Visitors who first visited in the last 7 days.
• Weekly Active Visitors: Visitors who have been active in the last 7 days.
• Frustrated Users: Visitors who rapidly clicked in frustration multiple times in the last 30 days.
• Dead Click Users: Visitors who experienced multiple dead clicks (clicking on an element that does nothing) in the last 30 days.

View your metadata and segments