At a glance
Cursor Thrashing Rate % is a frustration-signal metric tracked from FullStory data. Thrashing is the erratic, back-and-forth mouse movement that signals a confused or lost visitor scanning a page for something they cannot find. FullStory detects the pattern from cursor telemetry. This card reports the share of sessions that contained it. A rising rate points to pages where the layout, labelling, or information hierarchy is failing to guide people to what they came for.
| What it counts | The percentage of FullStory sessions in the period that contained erratic, thrashing cursor movement, as detected by FullStory. |
| Sample type | Backend API data from FullStory, refreshed on the standard data refresh. |
| Why it matters | Thrashing is a softer signal than a rage or error click, but it flags disorientation before the visitor gives up. It points to navigation and layout problems rather than broken code. |
| Reading the value | Compare the current period to the prior period. Pair with the worst-frustration-pages card to find where confusion concentrates. |
| Currency | percent |
| Time window | 30D vsP |
| Alert trigger | >5% of sessions |
| Sentiment key | fs_thrashing_rate |
| Roles | owner, marketing |
Calculation
Calculated automatically from your FullStory data. FullStory flags a thrashing event from erratic cursor-movement patterns; Vortex IQ divides sessions containing at least one such event by total captured sessions for the period. See the At a glance summary above for what the metric tracks and the worked example below for a typical reading.Worked example
A representative reading of Cursor Thrashing Rate % for a typical merchant on FullStory. Say the rate climbs to 6% after a navigation redesign. Replays show desktop visitors sweeping the cursor across the header repeatedly, hunting for the search box that moved into a collapsed menu. Restoring a visible search field brings thrashing back under control. Without this card the redesign would have looked fine on conversion for a while before the slow drag showed up. For deeper investigation, use Vortex Mind to see which pages drive the thrashing; for natural-language exploration, ask Ask Viq where visitors look most lost.Sibling cards merchants should reference together
| Card | Why merchants reach for it |
|---|---|
fs_dead_click_rate | Confused visitors often click things that do nothing. |
fs_rage_click_rate | Frustration sibling: repeated clicks on an unresponsive element. |
fs_worst_frustration_pages | Ranks pages by frustration so you know where to look first. |
fs_frustration_score | The composite frustration number this feeds into. |
Reconciling against the vendor’s own dashboard
Where to look in FullStory’s own dashboard: FullStory surfaces cursor and movement frustration through its frustration-signal reporting and session search. Confirm period boundaries and segment filters match the Vortex IQ profile to reconcile cleanly. Why the Vortex IQ value may legitimately differ:| Reason | Direction | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Period boundary. Vortex IQ uses 30-day rolling by default; FullStory dashboards may use calendar periods. | Variable | Match the period range. |
| Device mix. Thrashing is a cursor signal, so a session base skewed toward touch devices will read lower. | Variable | Check the device split. |
| Segment scope. A FullStory segment may narrow the sessions included relative to the Vortex IQ profile. | Variable | Match segment and filter settings. |