How do I complete a tree test?

Tree testing is an activity in which you will be asked to find a specific item within a set of menu options. Tree tests help developers tell whether their menus will make sense to their target audience.

You'll complete the tree testing activity on a website. You should not provide feedback on the tree testing site itself; it has nothing to do with the customer's site or their 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 not sure what you’re being asked to do and are unable to 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 terms are confusing, and why you’re selecting the terms that 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 you are confident of 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.