Tree Test

Tree Testing provided a deeper understanding of evaluating navigation structures in a structured way. Unlike the exploratory nature of the Candy Sort activity, this exercise was focused on testing the effectiveness of an existing hierarchy.

What did I do

I decided to choose my water bottle’s company Owala’s website to analyze.

I gave two instructions for my peers to try navigate the website.

1. Find the 24 oz tumblers available

2. Find the Color Pop section

Results from UXtweak

High Success Rate: With 100% of tasks leading to a correct answer, the navigation structure demonstrates strong overall effectiveness. Users were able to locate the desired information within the hierarchy, indicating that the organization and categorization of content align well with their expectations.

Room for Streamlining Navigation: While the success rate is perfect, the data showing only 60% of answers were chosen without backtracking suggests that users encountered some uncertainty or confusion while navigating. This indicates potential areas where the hierarchy or labeling could be clarified to reduce hesitation and improve the directness of navigation.

The process was straightforward yet revealing: attempting to locate specific items within a predefined structure highlighted areas of confusion and validated parts of the hierarchy that worked well. It was particularly interesting to see how small inconsistencies, like unclear category names or placement, could disrupt the user's ability to navigate smoothly. This exercise emphasized the importance of aligning navigation systems with user expectations and demonstrated how data from such tests can guide refinements in design.