Tree tests. UX test to validate the information architecture – | Blog

The Tree Test serves, among other things, to check whether users are able to locate the content within the website. This type of usability test is considered by many researchers as an evolution of the .

What is a Tree Test

The TreeTestit is one to check content trees o It helps us to validate the content tree and know if it is understood by users.

At the moment in which the navigation menu of a website is generated, two factors must be taken into account:

  • Your suitability to be found by search and indexing systems. Therefore, the labels that make up the menu are very important.
  • Its suitability so that when a user reaches the website through a search engine, they are able to find other types of content in which they are interested.
  • Therefore, we can say that, the Tree test will help us to know if users are able to locate a specific element within the navigation treeif users are able to find specific categories and if they find a menu link quickly or have to think hard to locate it.

    The Tree test will also help us to know if the classification structure of the contents of a website is correct and if the labels or labeling, the anchor text of the links in the navigation menu, is correct and descriptive to locate the content within the structure.

    When to do a Tree Test

    There are several moments in which we must or can carry out the tree-test:

    • To collect objective and rapid information from users.
    • To check the effectiveness of the content tree.
    • To check the construction of an existing content tree.

    To perform the tree-test need:

    • Have the content tree available.
    • Design the tasks that users must execute.
    • Prepare users.
    • Execution of the test.
    • Analysis of the results.

    How to do a Tree Test

    To carry out the test, it is not necessary to have more than 10 users, since when carrying out it with a larger number, the results will not vary too much.

    The user should not have much prior information to run the test. It is recommended to carry out a pilot test to see that everything works correctly.

    For users to carry out the test, it is necessary to define and write the narratives of the tasks. The text of the tasks must not offer information or exact terminology about where the category that the user must locate is located.

    In short, the narrative is nothing more than a description of the task to be carried out by the user in which no clues or help are included so that they find the correct link in the menu that will take them to the corresponding content.

    There are tools that allow us to do TreeTest remotely through digital means such as: .

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