MouseViz
Visualizing attention, hesitation, and interaction directly on screen
Overview
MouseViz is a native macOS app for recording and visualizing mouse activity in real time. It helps UX researchers, designers, creators, and product teams see clicks, movement, hesitation, heatmaps, cursor trails, spotlights, and dead zones across apps, windows, and screens.
The Problem
Mouse behavior is valuable, but usually invisible
Teams can record screens and watch sessions, but the important interaction layer often disappears into the video. Click intent, cursor hesitation, attention flow, and dead zones are hard to communicate without specialized tooling.
- Screen recordings show outcomes but rarely explain interaction behavior
- UX study sessions need lightweight markers, task scripts, and exports
- Creators and product teams need visual overlays without a heavy setup
- Browser-only analytics miss behavior across native apps and multiple displays
- Privacy-sensitive research workflows benefit from local processing
The Solution
A local macOS layer for interaction visibility
Real-time Visual Modes
Live overlays for behavioral heatmaps, cursor trails, click pulses, spotlights, and dead-zone analysis.
System-wide Capture
Mouse events are captured across apps, windows, and screens so research is not limited to a single web page.
UX Study Workflow
Task scripts, session markers, and session metadata make research recordings easier to run and review.
Analysis Suite
Tools for hesitation detection, attention flow paths, first-click analysis, click clustering, scroll depth, transition matrices, areas of interest, and velocity heatmaps.
Replay and Comparison
Session replay, comparison views, and success metrics help turn raw recordings into practical findings.
Export Pipeline
High-resolution image and video exports support demos, research reports, and product storytelling.
Technical Implementation
Built as a native Mac app, not a wrapped website
Technology Stack
- Swift
- SwiftUI
- AppKit
- Native macOS windows
- Menu bar app
- App/Core split
- Renderer isolation
- Next.js
- React
- Tailwind CSS
- OpenPanel
- pnpm
- Turborepo
- Biome
- TypeScript
- Swift tests
Native Overlay Architecture
The macOS app keeps capture, visualization, overlay, features, and UI concerns separated so the renderer can evolve without coupling the product to one interface.
Local-first Processing
The app is positioned around local Mac workflows: no Electron, no web views, and no server requirement for the core visualization experience.
Research-friendly Output
Visual modes, markers, session comparison, and export tooling are designed to produce artifacts that can be shared in design reviews and research reports.
Release Infrastructure
The project includes a direct-download release flow with Sparkle-style appcast metadata and public download proxying for stable Mac releases.
Results
The product has a verified native release path and product analytics instrumentation, but usage metrics are intentionally left as placeholders until the matching OpenPanel project is confirmed.
Verified Signals
- Public product site: mouseviz.com
- Repo-backed product positioning for UX research, demos, and content workflows
- OpenPanel instrumentation exists in the macOS app and marketing site
- Screenshots and demo videos should be added when final product captures are selected
Impact
Making interaction behavior visible without a heavy research stack
- Turns raw mouse activity into visual artifacts that can be discussed by designers, researchers, and product teams
- Supports native app and multi-screen workflows that browser-only tools cannot fully capture
- Keeps the core visualization experience local to the Mac
- Creates a foundation for richer UX study analysis, session comparison, and export workflows
What I Learned
- 01Native overlays need careful boundaries between capture, rendering, and product UI
- 02Research tools need both live feedback and durable exports
- 03A focused macOS app can stay lightweight while supporting advanced analysis modes
- 04Analytics claims should be separated from product capabilities until the project data source is verified
Explore MouseViz
See the native Mac app for visualizing mouse behavior