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INP by U-turns

INP by U-turns without noise

Vasil Dachev avatar
Written by Vasil Dachev
Updated over 2 months ago


What is INP by U-turns

INP by U-turns shows how Interaction to Next Paint (INP)differs for users who make a U-turn compared to those who stay and interact with the page.

A U-turn occurs when a user lands on a page, stays for five seconds or less, doesn’t interact (no clicks, scrolls, or inputs), and then navigates back to the previous page. It’s a signal that something didn’t resonate — or possibly didn’t respond in time.

This breakdown helps you understand whether slow responsiveness (poor INP) is contributing to early abandonment. Since INP measures the delay between a user’s interaction and the next visual update, high values may leave users feeling the page is unresponsive and not worth waiting for.


INP by U-turns sample


Should you worry

In a healthy view, INP values for U-turn sessions look similar to non-U-turn sessions. Users may still leave quickly, but not because the page failed to respond when they tried to interact.

A healthy setup typically shows:

  • INP consistently below 200ms (green range).

  • No noticeable delay when tapping, clicking, or typing.

  • U-turns driven by content or intent, not performance.

If INP is stable and responsive, U-turns are unlikely to be caused by interaction delays.

Unhealthy INP by U-turns

If U-turn sessions consistently show higher INP values, responsiveness issues are likely pushing users away before they engage.

Common causes include:

  • Heavy JavaScript execution blocking interactions.

  • Main thread congestion delaying the response to clicks or taps.

  • Large third-party scripts freezing the UI temporarily.

  • Input handlers taking too long to process.

In this case, users may attempt to interact but quickly abandon because the page feels broken or unresponsive.

Resolving unhealthy INP by U-turns

Go-to action plan to resolve an unhealthy INP by U-turns:

  1. Ask Uxi to analyze your INP by U-turns values and suggest improvements.

  2. Use Filters to compare INP gaps between U-turn and non-U-turn sessions by device or traffic source.

  3. Simulate INP of the suspected breakdown to see if fixing it will resolve the INP by U-turns. If yes, this is where the resolution focus should be.

  4. Use an automated INP optimization tool like INProve to improve your INP by U-turns values.

  5. Once you’ve improved INP, 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.

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