| Tree testing is a useful tool for evaluating the structure and organization of your prototype or website. Using UserTesting to conduct these tests will optimize your tree testing experience. |
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Product: UserTesting Experience: Classic |
On this page:
- What is a tree test?
- Why is tree testing helpful?
- When should you do tree testing?
- Tree testing with UserTesting
What is a tree test?
Tree testing is a usability technique used to evaluate how easy or difficult it is for users to find content in a website or application based on how the information is categorized and labeled in navigation menus. This method is also known as “reverse card sorting” or “card-based classification.”
Tree tests are conducted on text-based versions of websites or apps without design elements or navigation aids, similar to a sitemap and contributors are asked to show us where they would look for specific items or topics in the structure. By stripping away design, tree tests focus solely on labels and organization. So, if contributors struggle to locate items, this highlights structural issues.
Why is tree testing helpful?
Running your tree test via UserTesting can deliver both qualitative and quantitative insights to make more informed decisions related to how the information on your website or app is labeled and organized:
- Results from a tree test help you understand:
- how many people could find the information you wanted them to find
- how many people were unable to do so
- the paths people took, going through your structure before they settled on an answer.
- Recordings of the contributors' sessions will give you behavioral insights into those who complete your tree test and answer questions such as “Did people find any task particularly confusing?” and “Why did people enter the tree one way and not another?”
When should you do tree testing?
Conduct a tree test early in the research phase of a project.
- Use it to identify and address issues with your site structure.
- Run tests on different versions of a new website’s proposed structure to determine which works best for your users.
Tree testing with UserTesting
Tree testing is currently only available in the classic experience (i.e. classic Think-out-loud tests). You can choose between:
- classic tree tests (ia.usertesting.com)
- integrated tree tests
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