Building a Proof of Concept Session Replay

The screen flickers, and every click, scroll, and keystroke is replayed exactly as it happened. That is the power of a Proof Of Concept Session Replay.

A proof of concept validates that your session replay implementation works before committing full-scale adoption. It surfaces the truth about how users interact with your application, which errors occur, and how fast issues can be reproduced. Engineers rely on session replay to see the actual path a user took, not just the final state logged in analytics.

The first step is capturing the raw event stream: DOM changes, mouse movements, network requests, and console logs. For a proof of concept, keep the scope small but precise. Focus on a single flow—login, checkout, or form submission—and instrument only what you must, such as click tracking, viewport position, and request payloads. This lowers the implementation overhead and isolates performance impact.

Once data capture is defined, use a lightweight replay viewer. The goal is fast iteration. If the replay is slow to load, lacks timeline controls, or misses vital events, it fails the proof. A good session replay shows the sequence in real time and allows scrubbing, filtering, and network event correlation. Pair this with error monitoring to map front-end exceptions directly to replay sessions.

Security is critical even in a proof of concept. Mask sensitive inputs before they are recorded. Redact personal data on capture, not during playback. A compliant session replay strategy prevents privacy breaches while still providing actionable insights.

Testing should simulate real-world usage with diverse devices, browsers, and network speeds. Review replays for both smooth and degraded sessions. Verify that slow-loading assets or failed requests are visible in context, so engineers can trace the root cause without guesswork.

When your proof of concept session replay delivers exact user flows, accurate error reproduction, and a secure implementation, you have the evidence to move forward with deployment. The replay is no longer theory—it is production-ready.

See this in action with hoop.dev. Build your proof of concept session replay, run it live, and get results in minutes.