False cliffs in conversion paths
A missing step event can invent a drop-off that product never caused.
Product meetings escalate when a path chart shows a steep cliff between adjacent steps. Sometimes that cliff is real. Often the second step never fired after a permission prompt, or only fired on one platform.
Before rewriting onboarding, walk the path on devices your users hold and watch the live stream. Note every silent miss. Ask whether the step is client-only, server-confirmed, or both.
Identity resets between web and app are another quiet culprit. Users who continue on a second device look like new entrants who abandoned mid-path. Path Instrumentation QA exists to catch that before the roadmap absorbs the wrong story.