Maze glossary
Last updated: April 19, 2026
A
admin
A Maze user with rights to manage billing, manage user roles, and use Maze to build studies.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/360052722973-Roles-and-Permissions
agreement matrix
In card sort tasks, the agreement matrix shows how often participants place each card in each category. Results are displayed in a grid, with rows representing cards and columns representing categories. Each cell shows the agreement rate (i.e., the percentage of users who assigned that card to that category).
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/5783362697235-What-is-the-agreement-matrix
AI-moderated study
An AI-moderated study uses an AI moderator to guide participants and ask follow-up questions, enabling deeper insights without running live sessions.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/42227510334355-AI-moderated-studies
B
block
An individual element, such as a task, question, or logic step, used to build the structure and flow of an unmoderated study.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/360052722993-A-guide-to-all-blocks-you-can-use-in-Maze
bounce
The bounce metric in user research measures the number and rate of participants who leave a survey or user test without completing it (give up).
breaking change
Changes made to a prototype file that are significant enough to make it difficult to compare the data collected before and after the update.
C
Clips
Audio, video, and/or screen recordings of asynchronous user tests.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/4414533408403-Getting-started-with-Clips
Content Security Policy (CSP)
A security standard that controls which resources a webpage is allowed to load, allowing site owners to specify trusted sources so the browser can block unexpected activity.
collaborator
An individual invited to a specific project who can preview, comment on, and review that project without being added as a full team member.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/360051963854-Inviting-collaborators-to-a-specific-project
credits
Currency used on Maze to hire participants using our Panel feature.
D
diary study
A longitudinal UX-research method in which participants self-report their thoughts, feelings, behaviors, or interactions with a product over an extended period of time, allowing you to track how their experience evolves.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/14177457315731-Conducting-diary-studies-with-Maze
direct success
The direct success metric measures how many participants complete a task via the expected path.
distribution
The way in which variants in a Variant Comparison block will be shown to participants – can be Exclusive or Alternating:
- Alternating distribution: Users see all variants in a randomized order.
- Exclusive distribution: Users randomly see only one of the variants.
In Maze, our distribution is designed to ensure that each variant in a study is seen by the same number of participants. It's used to maintain balance across multiple variants, making sure that the data collected is comparable.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/360051963334-Variant-Comparison-with-Maze
F
filters
Filters allow you to narrow down information by specific criteria. In the study Results, you can filter the data by criteria such as participant attributes, responses, or behaviors to focus on the most relevant insights. In panel orders, you can filter by targeting criteria to define who can be recruited for a study, allowing you to reach participants that match specific demographic, professional, or behavioral requirements.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/8072990276371-Filtering-your-results
free trial
New customers can start a free trial to explore the platform for a limited time, with access to selected features, so they can evaluate whether Maze meets their research needs before committing to a paid plan.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/28513024118547-Maze-free-trials
G
goal screen
A screen that marks successful task completion in a prototype test.
H
heatmap
A visual representation of where participants clicked on a particular screen in your prototype or website test, using color intensity to highlight areas of high and low engagement.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/360052722953-A-guide-to-click-heatmaps-in-Maze
highlights
Key points taken from an unmoderated or interview session with a participant, which can then be tagged with a theme. Made up of a quote, note, and clip.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/47350791090707-Clips-Analysis
I
incidence rate
The percentage of participants who qualify for a study after completing a screener. A lower incidence rate means fewer participants meet your criteria, which can increase recruitment time and make panel orders harder to fulfill.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/23069441934227-Qualify-participants-with-custom-screening
indirect success
A metric that measures how many participants completed a task via a different path than the expected one.
interactive component (IAC)
A reusable component variant in Figma prototypes that responds to user interactions (e.g., hover, click, drag) and transitions between defined states, enabling prototypes to simulate real-world UI behavior.
interview study
See: moderated study
M
maze
See: Unmoderated study
Maze Participate
The Maze Participate app is a mobile app that lets participants complete unmoderated studies on iOS or Android devices, enabling researchers to test mobile experiences in a realistic, native environment.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/37592143740435-Testing-on-the-Maze-Participate-mobile-app
Maze Usability Score (MAUS)
See: usability score
misclick
A misclick is a click outside the intended target during a prototype task, which can indicate confusion or friction in the design. Misclick rate is the percentage of clicks in a task that are misclicks, showing how often participants click in unintended areas.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/360052722953-A-guide-to-click-heatmaps-in-Maze
Mission Usability Score (MIUS)
See: usability score
moderated study
A live session where a researcher guides participants through tasks and asks questions in real time.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/15898131127315-Getting-started-with-Interview-studies
O
observer
Stakeholders with the ability to discreetly join interview sessions with anonymous, view-only access.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/43386857734419-Invite-observers-to-view-moderated-interviews
owner
The sole individual responsible for the overall team, with the ability to request sensitive actions like upgrading, downgrading, or deleting the team, as well as all rights available to Admins.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/360052722973-Roles-and-Permissions
P
panel
A group of participants recruited to take part in studies, often based on specific demographic or behavioral criteria.
participant
A person who takes part in a study by completing tasks and providing feedback.
path
A path is the flow of screens a participant takes to complete a prototype or website task. An expected path is the flow of screens you expect a participant to take.
premium recruitment
Premium recruitment is a recruitment option that lets you source high-quality, vetted participants from premium external panels, with advanced targeting and quality controls, supported by hands-on assistance from our Panel Operations team.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/40191473844371-Premium-recruitment-in-Maze
project
A folder that groups and manages related studies, helping you organize research by product, feature, or initiative.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/4412647934739-Creating-a-project
prompt
An in-product message that gathers user feedback at key moments in their experience.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/10391045317907-Collect-in-product-feedback-using-Prompts
prototype
An interactive design or mockup, typically created in a design tool, that participants test to simulate a real product experience. In Maze, users can create unmoderated studies to test Figma prototypes in prototype test blocks, or prototypes built in tools like Lovable, Bolt, and Figma Make in website test blocks.
R
Reach
Maze’s participant management tool, allowing users to build and manage a database of participants, create segments, and send unmoderated studies as targeted campaigns.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/4876983396243-Getting-started-with-Reach
reel
A shareable collection of Clips recordings grouped around specific insights or themes.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/31395325610643-Sharing-Clips-recordings
reports
Reports in Maze provide a shareable view of study results that brings together key metrics, visualizations, and participant feedback to help you analyze and communicate insights.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/360052722693-Maze-reports
S
Sankey chart
A visualization that shows how participants move through different paths or choices in a study, with the width of each flow representing volume. From left to right, users can follow how inputs flow into three outcomes—direct success, indirect success, and mission unfinished—with the relative width of each band conveying the distribution of those outcomes.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/360052722693-Maze-reports
screener
A set of questions used to determine whether a participant is eligible to take part in a study.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/23069441934227-Qualify-participants-with-custom-screening
segment
A saved group of participants in Reach that’s defined by shared attributes or behaviors, allowing you to target, filter, and reuse specific audiences across studies.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/4877105370899-Filters-Segments-in-Reach
sentiment
The measure of feelings (positive, negative, or neutral) associated with a specific theme.
session
A session is one participant’s recorded run through a study.
similarity matrix
A visualization that shows how similar participants’ responses are to each other, helping you identify patterns, clusters, and themes in open-ended feedback.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/5783356634771-What-is-the-similarity-matrix
Screen Usability Score (SCUS)
See: usability score
Single Sign-On (SSO)
An authentication method that lets users securely access Maze using their organization’s identity provider, without needing a separate Maze password.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/6592322295059-Setting-up-SSO-for-your-team
snippet
A JavaScript code snippet installed on your website to trigger in-product feedback, such as prompts, and collect richer qualitative insights during website testing.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/9800356063891-Installing-the-Maze-snippet-on-your-website
study
A unit of research used to test and validate designs or experiences by collecting participant feedback. Studies can be moderated, unmoderated, or ai-moderated.
System for Cross-domain Identity Management (SCIM)
An open standard that allows you to automate team management directly from your IdP, removing the need for manual provisioning and ensuring secure, compliant access control at scale.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/8177280613139-Setting-up-SCIM-for-your-team
T
template
Templates are pre-built study setups that provide recommended blocks and flows for common research use cases. Custom templates let you save your own study setup and reuse it across future studies.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/1500007704581-Using-templates
theme
Themes are used to describe and categorize highlights in interview studies to identify patterns across sessions.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/22980335764371-Managing-interview-themes
transcript
A written text version of spoken audio, automatically generated from a Clip or interview session.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/19132681688467-Automatic-transcripts-for-Clips
tree test
A research method used to evaluate how easily participants can find items within a navigation structure by completing tasks using a simplified version of a site’s hierarchy, without visual design elements.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/360051963914-Improve-your-navigation-with-Tree-Testing
U
unmoderated study
An unmoderated study is completed by participants independently, without a researcher present, allowing you to collect feedback quickly and at scale.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/360051963034-Creating-and-setting-up-your-first-maze
usability score
A score that reflects how easy it is for a participant to perform a given task in your prototype or study, based on metrics like success rate, misclicks, and time spent. Maze calculates three different usability scores:
- Maze Usability Score (MAUS): The average of the usability scores from all tasks within a study, giving an overall usability measure.
- Mission Usability Score (MIUS): A score that measures the usability of an entire task by combining its direct and indirect success rates with penalties for misclicks and time taken.
- Screen Usability Score (SCUS): A score that measures how easily participants can complete a task on a specific screen, accounting for misclicks, abandonment, and time spent.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/360052723353-How-your-Usability-Score-is-calculated
V
variant comparison
A variant is a different version or iteration of a design, product, or interface that is being tested. Maze’s variant comparison block allows for exclusive or sequential testing of variants of a design to understand which version performs better.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/360051963334-Variant-Comparison-with-Maze
W
website test
A study block that allows users to create tasks, such as usability tests, for participants to complete on live websites and gather data on it.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/46070670578067-Interacting-with-a-Website-Test
workspace
A collaborative space where teams organize projects and manage access and collaboration.
https://help.maze.co/hc/en-us/articles/14629498965907-Organizing-your-projects-with-Workspaces