User Identification and User Unification are used to track and consolidate end-user engagement on the application. For more information, see How does Whatfix identify users on the application?

Note:
Contact support@whatfix.com to configure User Identification and enable User Unification.

This article outlines how Whatfix identifies multiple users who access the application from the same device. Multiple users may access the application from the same device at different times or at the same time.

Consider three users— User A, User B, and User C—logging into the application for the first time on the same device. The following workflow illustrates how Whatfix identifies and unifies the actions taken by these three users.

Note:
The following are the descriptions of the columns in the tables and the values added to columns based on the scenario:
User performing the event: The individual who takes action in the application.
Event (E1, E2, E3): Events that users perform on the application are labeled as E1, E2, E3, and more.
Anonymized Whatfix IDs: Unique identifiers, represented as xxxxxx or yyyyyy, are generated by Whatfix when a user accesses the application for the first time.
User ID: A configured identifier that uniquely represents a user within the application. For example, John is used as a sample User ID in the table.
Mapped Whatfix ID: The ID that Whatfix uses to map users’ engagement. If a user is identified with a User ID, Whatfix maps them to that User ID; otherwise, it maps them to the Anonymized Whatfix ID (xxxxxx or yyyyyy).
Unified Whatfix ID: The ID that Whatfix uses to unify user information.

1. Three users, User A, User B, and User C log in to the application for the first time using the same device

When User A, User B, and User C log in for the first time, Whatfix captures three events (E1, E2, and E3). The users are not identified initially, and hence Whatfix captures all events performed from the same device using the same Anonymized Whatfix ID, xxxxxx.

The following table represents how the data is structured:

User performing the event

Event

Anonymized Whatfix ID

User ID

Mapped

Whatfix ID

Unified

Whatfix ID

A

E1

xxxxxx

-

xxxxxx

xxxxxx

B

E2

xxxxxx

-

xxxxxx

xxxxxx

C

E3

xxxxxx

-

xxxxxx

xxxxxx

Since Whatfix cannot distinguish between the users, all events are linked to the same Anonymized Whatfix ID.

2. User A performs event E4 with User ID, John

Next, Whatfix captures an event, E4, performed by user A, who is identified as John.

User performing the event	Event	Anonymized Whatfix ID	User ID
A	E4	xxxxxx	John

With this event linked to a User ID, Whatfix can now unify the user information for events performed by users B and C as well.

This is how the data looks after Unification.

User performing the event	Event	Anonymized Whatfix ID	User ID	Mapped Whatfix ID	Unified Whatfix ID
A	E1	xxxxxx	-	xxxxxx	John
B	E2	xxxxxx	-	xxxxxx	John
C	E3	xxxxxx	-	xxxxxx	John
A	E4	xxxxxx	John	John	John

All events are now associated with the User ID, John. Whatfix is unaware that three different users accessed the application from the same device; it only recognizes that the same browser and local storage were used.

3. Users A, B, and C access the application again

When users A, B, and C return to the application, Whatfix captures events E5, E6, E7, E8, and E9. Here, E5 and E8 are performed by user B, who is identified as Mary, while E6, E7, and E9 do not have User IDs.

User performing the event	Event	Anonymized Whatfix ID	User ID
B	E5	xxxxxx	Mary
C	E6	xxxxxx	-
B	E7	xxxxxx	-
B	E8	xxxxxx	Mary
A	E9	xxxxxx	-

At this point, Whatfix recognizes two users: John (who performed event E4) and Mary (who performed events E5 and E8). However, it cannot identify user C due to the lack of associated events.

For events E6, E7, and E9, which do not include User IDs, Whatfix assigns them to the first identified user, John.

This is how the data looks after Unification.

User performing the event	Event	Anonymized Whatfix ID	User ID	Mapped Whatfix ID	Unified Whatfix ID
A	E1	xxxxxx	-	xxxxxx	John
B	E2	xxxxxx	-	xxxxxx	John
C	E3	xxxxxx	-	xxxxxx	John
A	E4	xxxxxx	John	John	John
B	E5	xxxxxx	Mary	Mary	Mary
C	E6	xxxxxx	-	xxxxxx	John
B	E7	xxxxxx	-	xxxxxx	John
B	E8	xxxxxx	Mary	Mary	Mary
A	E9	xxxxxx	-	xxxxxx	John