A tree test tells you how easy it is for users to navigate your site, and helps to improve your site’s information architecture. It involves asking your users to perform a task using a text-only version of your website, and tells you whether they’re able to get to the right destination or not.
The task they complete could be to find a certain product, or get themselves to a particular page. This testing method helps to identify any pain points your users encounter on the customer journey as they complete given tasks – and highlights areas for improvement. Carrying out this test early on in the design process means you can ensure that content on your site is easy to understand, and find.
Tree testing can tell you:
whether content is grouped together in a logical, straightforward way
how quickly and easily information can be found
what’s preventing your users from finding the content they’re looking for
When to use tree testing
Navigation
To design and define your site architecture
Findability
To find out how easy it is for users to access information on your site
Usability
To help create digital experiences that are easy to use
Do you want to learn how to build a tree test with UserQ?