Each month, Steppingblocks sends your institution a usage report. It shows how students are using the platform: who is signing up, when they're active, what they're exploring, and which tools they're using. This article goes through each section of the report and explains what every number and chart measures.
Before you start: Your report covers one calendar month, which appears in the top-right corner of each page. "This month" always means that month. "Cumulative" or "total" means everything since your institution launched on Steppingblocks.
Report structure at a glance
Page | Section | What it covers |
1 | Account Creation and Usage | Sign-ups, overall activity, and when students use the platform |
2 | Cumulative Module Activity | Which tools students use and what they search for |
3 | Activity Completion | Certificates and personality assessments completed |
Page 1: Account Creation and Usage
Summary metrics (top row)
Metric | What it measures |
New Accounts This Month | Students who created a Digital Career Counselor account during the report month. This tile is highlighted because it's your headline number for the month. |
New Accounts This AY | Accounts created since the current academic year began. The date range is printed under the label, for example "July 2026 – Present." Use it to track progress toward yearly adoption goals. |
Total Created Accounts | Every account created since launch, all-time. |
User Activity Count | The total number of actions students have taken on the platform, such as running searches, opening modules, and viewing results. It measures depth of engagement, not how many people used the platform. |
Total Web Sessions | The number of separate visits to the platform. A student who logs in on three different days counts as three sessions. |
Account Growth Over Time
This line chart shows sign-ups across your institution's full history on the platform. It has two lines and two axes:
New Accounts (orange line, left axis): Accounts created in each period. Peaks usually line up with outreach such as orientation, class visits, career fairs, or campus emails.
Cumulative (blue line, right axis): Your running total of accounts. A steeper slope means faster growth.
Tip: Compare the spikes against your campus calendar to see which outreach efforts drove the most sign-ups.
This Month Last Year
This chart compares new accounts in the report month with the same month one year earlier, for example August 2025 against August 2026. The light bar is last year and the dark bar is this year. Comparing year over year accounts for seasonal patterns, because some months are naturally busier than others.
When Are Students Most Active?
This chart shows total student activity for each day of the week, summed across all time. The tallest bars are the days students use the platform most. Those days are a good time to send reminders, post announcements, or schedule workshops.
When Do They Sign Up?
This chart shows account creations by hour of the day, from 12 a.m. to 11 p.m., summed across all time. It shows when students are most likely to act on an invitation. Many institutions see sign-ups peak in the afternoon and evening.
Page 2: Cumulative Module Activity
All data on this page is cumulative, meaning all-time rather than just the report month.
Modules
This bar chart shows how often students have used each part of the Digital Career Counselor. Taller bars mean more use. The chart shows which tools students rely on most and which could use more promotion.
Module | What students are doing |
Search360 by Career | Looking up a job title or career path to see outcomes, salaries, and pathways |
Search360 by Education | Looking up a major or field of study to see where graduates end up |
Jobs | Browsing job listings |
Feeds | Viewing personalized content feeds |
Tuition | Using tuition and cost tools |
Top 360 Searches
This chart lists the ten most-searched terms across Search360, combining career and major searches. Each percentage is that term's share of all Search360 searches. For example, 8.5% means about 1 in 12 searches was for that term.
Search360 by Career Searches (word cloud)
This word cloud shows the careers students search for most. Bigger text means more searches. Color is only for readability and has no meaning. Use it to see which professions your students are curious about.
Search360 by Major Searches (word cloud)
This word cloud shows the majors and fields of study students search for most, again sized by how often they're searched. It can reflect interest in your own programs, and in programs students are considering that you may not offer.
Top Companies Searched (word cloud)
This word cloud shows the employers students search for most, sized by search frequency. It's useful for employer relations, choosing career fair invitations, and knowing which organizations to highlight in programming. Your own institution may appear here when students look into campus employment or outcomes.
Page 3: Activity Completion
This page shows how many students finished structured activities, not just started them.
Certificates Completed
This Month: Certificates students earned during the report month.
Cumulative: All certificates earned since launch.
Personality Assessments Completed
This Month: Personality assessments completed during the report month.
Cumulative: All assessments completed since launch.
Top Personality Types
The three most common four-letter personality types among your students who completed the assessment.
Personality Type Distribution
This bar chart shows how many students fall into each of the 16 personality types, sorted from most to least common. The distribution can help advisors tailor career conversations. For example, it can show whether your population leans toward introversion or extraversion, or toward structured or flexible work styles.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my monthly number lower than last year's? Monthly sign-ups depend on your campus calendar and outreach timing. Look at the Account Growth chart and the academic-year total for the bigger picture.
Why does a section show zero? A zero means no activity of that type during the report month. It doesn't mean a data error. Cumulative numbers still show all-time totals.
Can I get more detail or a custom date range? Yes. Contact your Steppingblocks Partner Success Team Member.