During a tree test, you'll find a specific item within a set of menu options. Tree tests help developers tell whether their menus make sense to their target audience.
You'll complete the tree testing activity on a website. You shouldn't provide feedback on the tree testing site itself; it has nothing to do with the customer's site or test objectives. Your job is to focus on the menu and where you'd expect to find items within it.
To complete a helpful and insightful tree test, keep the following in mind:
- Read the instructions very carefully. Since you'll be taken to another site to complete the test, there may be some terminology confusion due to UserTesting and tree tests both requiring the completion of "tasks" or "questions." If you're unsure what you're being asked to do and can't complete multiple tasks, please report a problem.
- Focus on the terms used in the menu and the tasks. A tree test activity is completed on a site built specifically for tree tests. Instead of evaluating the site's visuals, think out loud as you interact with the menu. Explain which terms make sense to you, which are confusing, and why you're selecting the terms you choose. The main goal of tree testing is to determine how intuitive a menu is, so that should be the focus of your verbal feedback.
- Describe your confidence and certainty in making selections. If you feel like the menu was intuitive to interact with and are confident where you'd find things within the menu, then say so. If you're picking a menu option at random because you honestly don't know where you'd go to find something, say that, too.
Once you complete a tree test activity, you'll see a message similar to the ones above.
If you complete your test using Google Chrome, please DO NOT close the browser window. If you close your browser window, you'll exit the test, and we won't be able to pay you for your time. Instead, return to the UserTesting instructions and proceed with the tasks until you see the "Stop Recording" button at the end.