Maze · User research platform · 3D and 2D animation video

Startup Animation Video for Maze: User Research Drawn as a Maze

Maze needed product teams to see a user research platform that gives "actionable user insights, in a matter of hours". This startup animation video turns the brand name into the picture: a ball finds its route through a 3D maze, then flat screens show the survey, prototype and copy tests that tell a product team which feature to build next.

Last updated Oct. 18, 2026

Maze · User research platform

Client: Maze
Product: Maze user research platform: surveys, prototype tests and copy tests
Made for: Product teams deciding what to build next
Format: 3D and 2D motion graphics video
Style: White 3D maze and tracks, flat 2D test screens
Length: 1:32
Production timeline: 3 to 4 weeks
Budget: $1,200 to $2,000

The problem: user research has nothing to look at

Maze describes itself as a "user research platform that gives you actionable user insights, in a matter of hours", where teams "test remotely, autonomously and collaboratively". In real life that is a link, a wait and a report. None of it makes a picture.

The buyer is a product team with too many ideas and no proof. The video had to show 2 things: the mess before a test, and the clear route after it, then the actual tests that get a team from one to the other.

How the Maze video moves from guesswork to a route, scene by scene

On-screen text appears only where a team would type it: the question and the tests. Select a time to play that scene above.

Time	On screen	What it does
	Flat 2D shapes on pale blue: one orange dot, dots spreading out, a grid of 15 orange dots, then a blue arc carrying an orange dot.	Starts with scattered signals, like raw user responses.
	A ball rolls in and its line splits into a tangle of blue and purple paths, then the tangle clears to 2 clean lines on pink.	Draws the problem and the fix before any product appears.
	The switch to 3D: a blue sphere rolls down a white track past a pink tape reel and a box with a play icon.	Moves from flat ideas into a physical world the ball has to cross.
	A white 3D maze board with keypad tiles, springs and coins. A glowing blue path lights one route through it.	Turns the brand name into the product promise: the route through.
	Balls run along the track into a sunken box of 3D charts: rings, bars, a pie and line graphs.	Shows where the route ends: results a team can read.
	Back to 2D: "Which feature should we build next?", chat bubbles, a roadmap of bars from Q1 to Q2, then "Which feature is most important to you?" over a bar chart.	Names the buyer's own question, then shows a survey answering it.
	A phone prototype with a heatmap, a "Usability Score" card counting up to 81 and an "11%" card, then a copy test: "This is the most advanced smartphone in the world." gets a check, "This is the best mobile phone in the world." gets a cross.	Shows 2 more test types and the kind of verdict each one returns.
	3D again: the blue sphere runs a glowing track that bends into the Maze logo mark, then the "maze" wordmark.	Ends the route on the brand.

Storyboard: the frames that carry the Maze startup animation video

Key frames from the finished video, in order. Select a time to play that moment above.

The problem drawn as a tangle of paths.
The tangle clears to 2 clean lines.
The switch to 3D: the ball enters a physical world.
The brand name as the promise: one lit route through the maze.
The route ends in results a team can read.
The buyer's own question, in their words.
A survey answers it with a bar chart.
A prototype test returns a score.
A copy test picks the winning headline.
The track ends as the Maze logo.

4 decisions behind the Maze startup animation video

Decision 1

Make the brand name the metaphor

From 0:34 a ball crosses a 3D maze and a glowing path lights its route at 0:42. At 1:26 the same track bends into the Maze logo, so the name and the promise end as one picture.

Copy it: If your product name is a picture, build the video's world out of it and end on the logo it becomes.

Decision 2

Draw the mess before the fix

From 0:12 to 0:17 one line splits into a tangle of paths. At 0:18 it clears to 2 clean lines, before any product screen appears.

Copy it: Show your buyer's problem as a shape first. A viewer who sees the tangle wants the straight line.

Decision 3

Write the question the buyer asks

The first full sentence on screen, at 0:56, is "Which feature should we build next?", the kind of line a product team says in planning, not a tagline.

Copy it: Put your buyer's question on screen word for word, then show your product answering it.

Decision 4

3D for the idea, 2D for the product

The maze, tracks and charts are 3D (0:20 to 0:55, 1:20 to the end). The survey, prototype and copy tests are flat 2D screens (0:56 to 1:19), close to what a team sees in the tool.

Copy it: Give the metaphor and the product their own look so the viewer always knows which one is on screen.

From the Maze name to a 3D track and 3 test screens

The maze idea. The brand name set the concept: a ball that finds its route, from scattered signals to a clear path to the logo.
Visual asset design. Shapes, dots, paths and a pale color set were designed for the 2D opening and the test screens.
3D maze and tracks. The white maze board, tracks, spheres and the box of 3D charts were built as one connected world.
Custom illustration of the tests. The survey, the phone prototype with its heatmap and score cards, and the 2 copy cards were drawn as flat screens.
Motion and text animation. The tangle, the rolling ball, the counting score and the highlighted headline words were animated.
Transitions, compositing and color grading. Shape-to-3D and 3D-to-2D transitions were composited, with the glow on the lit route as a visual effect.
Sound design and edit. Sound design was added and the scenes were edited into the final 1:32 cut.

Scope of work:

Visual asset design
Motion graphics animation
Custom illustration
Dynamic transitions
Visual effects
Sound design
Editing
Color grading
Compositing
Text animation

Production took 3 to 4 weeks on a budget of $1,200 to $2,000. See the Motion graphics video production service for how a project like this is scoped.

Questions about the Maze startup animation video

Why is the Maze startup animation video built around a maze?

The name is the picture. From 0:34 a ball crosses a 3D maze board and a glowing path lights one route at 0:42, and at 1:26 the track bends into the Maze logo mark.

What question does the Maze video put on screen?

"Which feature should we build next?" at 0:56. Chat bubbles and a roadmap of bars from Q1 to Q2 follow, the way a product team's planning looks before anyone has tested.

Which Maze tests does the video show?

3: a survey asking "Which feature is most important to you?" over a bar chart at 1:05, a phone prototype with a heatmap and a "Usability Score" card at 1:13, and a copy test of 2 headlines at 1:17.

How does the copy test scene work?

2 cards sit side by side at 1:17. "This is the most advanced smartphone in the world." gets a check and "This is the best mobile phone in the world." gets a cross, with the words that differ highlighted.

Why does the Maze video switch between 3D and 2D?

3D carries the idea: the maze, the tracks and the charts from 0:20 to 0:55 and again from 1:20. 2D carries the product: the survey, prototype and copy tests from 0:56 to 1:19.

What did the Maze animation take to make?

Visual asset design, motion graphics, custom illustration, transitions, effects, text animation, compositing, color grading, editing and sound design. Production took 3 to 4 weeks on a budget of $1,200 to $2,000.

What Advids clients say

"Transforming complex banking-as-a-service integrations was beautifully executed by Advids. They made it extremely easy for CTOs to grasp."Riju Choudhury, Brand Marketing Manager at Unit