What is the difference between Tree Testing and Card Sorting?
Both tree testing and card sorting are crucial for information architecture, but they have different purposes. Card sorting is a generative method used to discover how users would group content, which helps you create a navigation framework from the ground up. In contrast, tree testing is an evaluative technique that confirms the usage of an already-created navigation structure to determine if users can successfully locate items within it.
How do you interpret the results of a Tree Test?
When examining tree test findings, it is necessary to consider various significant indicators such as:
• Success rate: The percentage of participants who managed to find the correct destination.
• Directness: The percentage of participants who went to the right place without changing their mind and going back again. There appears to be a relationship between higher directness scores and the perceived clarity and understandability of a path.
• First click: This indicator presents the information about the position of the first click of the users for a specific task, thus, it helps understand their primary assumptions about the place of information.
What are the benefits of Tree Testing?
Tree testing is one method that designers and researchers can use, and it presents certain considerations:
• Early problem detection allows for the identification and resolution of navigation-related issues during the initial design phases, potentially affecting the time and resources required.
• Objective data allows for the acquisition of quantitative data that indicates levels of efficiency. These data can then be used to draw conclusions and make changes in the informational architecture.
• The remote, unmoderated nature of this method may relate to the rapid and relatively inexpensive collection of feedback from a substantial number of participants.
• The removal of the visual layer concentrates only on the informativeness of your content organization and the correctness of labeling.
What are some considerations or challenges to bear in mind when conducting Tree Testing?
The resource provides value, but some limitations exist:
• A navigation system evaluated in isolation, without consideration of factors such as visual design and on-page content, can affect the effectiveness of a tree test.
• The test identifies user behaviors, but the underlying motivations remain unclear.
• The presence of a moderator typically facilitates the acquisition of qualitative insights, though this is not always assured.
What are some tips for conducting a successful Tree Test?
Some recommendations are for you to be able to obtain the highest results of your tree testing:
• Prepare clear tasks: Creating goal-oriented and realistic tasks is important. Participants in the research should not be given the labels exactly as they appear in the navigation tree (not to be influenced by them).
• Trova the right audience: The people you select for the study should be the best representation of the target group of users.
• Pilot test: It is always a good idea to conduct a small pilot test to make sure that there are no difficult tasks or technical problems before performing the actual study.
• Mantenere la semplicità: The restriction on the number of tasks should be to prevent the exhaustion of participants and to provide the opportunity for the test to be finished in a short period of time.
Conclusione
Tree testing is a tool frequently used by UX specialists. It is a way to supply straightforward, measurable data about how easy it is for users to locate your content. The data suggest potential modifications to the information architecture. This effort produces a navigation flow associated with user expectations, potentially influencing user experience and site efficiency.
