The order option in funnels determines the degree of flexibility allowed in the sequence of steps to qualify as a conversion. 

By default, all our funnels are based on 'This order" which represents a specified order. This means that conversions will only be counted if users follow the steps in the order you have specified. You can change this to any order by simply selecting any order. 

This order vs. Any order 

Let's take a closer look at a specific funnel with 4 steps composed by screen A, B, C, D and see how conversion count would differ when choosing ordered funnels logic vs. unordered funnels. 

 

This order - Ordered Funnels

For ordered funnels, users must complete each step of the funnel in the specified order for it to be considered a conversion. This means that Screen A must be visited before Screen B, and Screen B  before Screen C, and so on. Users can perform other actions or repeat certain funnel steps in between, but they will only be counted as conversions if they successfully complete all the funnel steps in the designated order. As long as the order is respected, the sequence illustrated would count as a conversion even if other actions are occurring between the steps. 

Let's illustrate this with an image and see where conversions would be counted for ordered funnels. 

Green represents that the user is following the steps in order. 

Yellow represents a step that was not included in the funnel. 

Red represents a step in the funnel that has not been done in the correct order. 

User 1 and User 3 are the only ones that would be considered conversions as the user successfully completed the sequence in the designated order. Based on these 5 users, the conversion rate would be 2/5 or 40%. 

Any order - Unordered Funnels

You can switch to any order if you’re analyzing a set of actions that where the order in which users complete the actions does not matter. For instance, if your user are submitting their profile and need to upload several pieces of information (Picture, Passport, Age, Address, Name) but the order they do so does not matter as long as they submit their complete profile. 

Another example is if you would like to track whether users saved a song in a music app. The order in which they do so, whether it is before adding it to a playlist or after has no importance. 

Let's use the same example as earlier to illustrate how conversions would differ in unordered funnels.  In unordered funnels, as long as all the steps occur, no matter what the order is, the users will be counted as a conversion.

Users 1,2,3 would be considered conversions as the user successfully completed all the steps. However users 4 and 5 would not be considered as conversions as they have not visited Screens A,B,C,D. Based on these 5 users, the conversion rate would be 3/5 or 60%.