Microsoft Clarity

Definition

Microsoft Clarity is Microsoft's behavior analytics product: session recordings, heatmaps, and automated insights, offered without a recording quota. In an A/B test it is the qualitative record of what converting visitors did in a variant.

What Microsoft Clarity means in A/B testing

Clarity can filter a recording, a heatmap, or a dashboard by a custom tag on the session. The experiment joins at that tag. If the tag contains the test and the variant, the filter is "people who converted on this variant," which is the slice worth replaying after a result. Clarity does not randomize traffic or compute a chance to win. Those stay in the testing tool.

Why Microsoft Clarity matters

Session replay is often capped or paid, so teams sample a few recordings and miss the pattern. A tool with no recording cap can keep every converting session for a variant, which is a better place to look for rage clicks, dead clicks, and a layout that only fails in one arm. The tag has to be specific. A sitewide recording of all traffic does not answer a variant question.

Example of Microsoft Clarity

A collection-page test raises add-to-cart rate and you want to know whether people actually reached the new module. Mida sets the Clarity tag mida_conversion_{test_id}_{variant} on sessions that hit the add-to-cart goal. Filtering Clarity to variant B shows those replays and the scroll heatmap for that tag. The add-to-cart decision still comes from Mida's counts. Clarity shows whether the module was used.

How to use Microsoft Clarity

Install the Clarity script so window.clarity exists, install Mida, and enable the integration. Complete the goal on each variant and confirm the custom tag on that session. Filter recordings and heatmaps by the tag after the test has enough conversions to be worth watching. Do not treat a Clarity insight card as the primary metric you pre-registered.

Common mistake

A common mistake is looking for an exposure tag and concluding the integration is broken. Conversions are tagged, exposures are not. Another is stacking this tag on top of other clarity('set') calls that overwrite it, then filtering on a value that is no longer on the session.

How Mida works with Microsoft Clarity

The Microsoft Clarity integration calls clarity('set', 'mida_conversion', 'mida_conversion_{test_id}_{variant}') when a visitor converts. Clarity can then filter recordings, heatmaps, and dashboards to that tag. The integration page also describes using Clarity's Copilot on the filtered set for rage clicks, dead clicks, and quick backs, and comparing scroll heatmaps by variant.

Requirements are the Clarity script and the Mida snippet. No paid Clarity plan is required. The payload is the test and variant identifiers, not a name or an email, which is why the integration page says EU traffic is in scope. Hotjar is not included in this call. It has its own integration and its own event names at Hotjar.

Related A/B testing terms

• Hotjar
• Heatmapping
• User Experience (UX)
• Flickering

FAQ

How is the Clarity tag different from the Hotjar tag?

They are separate integrations. Clarity receives one custom tag, mida_conversion_{test_id}_{variant}, set when the visitor converts. Hotjar receives two hj event names, also on conversion, and needs a paid Hotjar plan before those events filter recordings. Clarity's integration page describes Clarity itself as free, with no session cap and no paid tier required for the tag.

Can I filter Clarity to everyone who was assigned variant B?

Not with the standard tag. Mida sets it on conversion because Clarity keeps a limited number of custom tags per session and prefers the latest one. Tagging the conversion leaves the useful filter without wiping other tags you set. Exposure tagging is not part of this integration.

Does the tag identify the shopper in Clarity?

No. The integration sends the test and variant identifiers. The integration page states that no personal data is included, and that this holds for EU traffic because Clarity's own processing is GDPR-oriented and Mida is not adding a name or an email.