What is TTFB by persona
TTFB by persona tracks Time to First Byte (TTFB) across different types of user journeys, grouped by behavioral personas like Bouncer, Window Shopper, Champion, and more. This lens connects your backend response time to user intent — so you can see whether key personas are being slowed down before the page even starts rendering.
Personas are determined based on real user behavior, such as page visits and conversion checkpoint progress. Each group represents a different level of engagement and conversion likelihood, helping you spot which user types are receiving slow initial responses from your servers.
Persona | Definition |
Bouncer | Visited a landing page and exited without interacting further. |
Engaged bouncer | Visited a landing page and engaged (e.g., scrolled, hovered, clicked) before bouncing. |
Window shopper | Visited two or more pages but did not reach a key conversion checkpoint. |
Future champion | Reached a pre-conversion checkpoint such as a product detail page or cart. |
Champion | Reached the final conversion checkpoint, such as the checkout page |
Healthy TTFB by persona sample
Should you worry
A healthy TTFB by persona lens shows fast response times (green) across all user types — with a special focus on Future Champions and Champions. This means:
Backend infrastructure is keeping up with your most important traffic.
CDNs, caching, or edge rendering are working as intended.
No major server-side performance penalties are affecting your funnel.
Bonus: If Bouncers also get fast TTFB, it boosts your chances of converting them further down the line.
Unhealthy TTFB by persona sample
If TTFB is high for Bouncers, it suggests your landing pages aren’t getting served quickly enough — causing many to leave before the content even starts loading.
If it’s poor for Champions or Future Champions, you might have:
Backend processing delays (e.g., server-side personalization or stock checks)
Cache misses on important inner pages
Unoptimized APIs delaying checkout or logged-in sessions
This often reflects infrastructure problems that disproportionately impact high-value traffic.
Resolving unhealthy TTFB by persona
Go-to action plan to resolve an unhealthy TTFB by persona:
Ask Uxi to analyze your TTFB by persona values and suggest improvements.
Filter for Persona with high TTFB and inspect the common entry points or route backends.
Simulate TTFB of the suspected lens to see if fixing it will resolve the TTFB by persona. If yes, this is where the resolution focus should be.
Use an automated optimization tool like Navigation AI to improve your TTFB by persona values.
Once you’ve improved TTFB, set an alert to be the first to know if it starts worsening again.
Try it yourself
Discover how your website performs with real user data.