Up a tree: Using tree tests to evaluate your IA

By Dave O'Brien at UX New Zealand 2013

You run usability tests on your designs, but do you test the structure of your site? How do you know it’s better than the old site? Online tree testing lets you test several proposed site structures against each other to see which is most effective. You get quick objective feedback from real users early in the design process. We start with tree-testing concepts and run a live tree test, then dive into the how-to’s of running a good study and the lessons we’ve learned from several high-profile projects. It’s a great chance to add another practical technique to your design toolkit.

Transcript

1. Up a Tree Dave O’Brien Nov 2013 Using tree tests to evaluate your IA
2. Easy to find UXD easy to use IA easy to find
3. Bad navigation
4. 4 Bad Labeling
5. Bigger = harder “Getting to the right page within a website or intranet is the inevitable prerequisite to getting anything done.” - Jakob Nielsen
6. How do we make it easier to find stuff? How do we make it easier to find stuff?
7. We research our target users
8. We design up a bunch of ideas • French • Italian • German • Japanese – Sushi – Teppanyaki – Yakitori • Chinese • Breakfast – Hot – Cold • Lunch • Dinner • Snacks • Beef • Poultry – Chicken – Turkey – Duck • Pork • Vegetarian Recipes
9. We test our ideas to find out which work best
10. Revise and re-test…
11. …until we get something that works really well
12. Test early Test early
13. Today we’re going to look at tree testing
14. Doing a real tree test  Volunteer?
15. So, what did we just see?
16. Just like a real site Like a real site…
17. But not really …but not really
18. So why test this way? So, why test this way?
19. Quick to set up
20. It isolates two basic elements
21. It makes analysis easy
22. Don’t need to design a website first
23. Just a spreadsheet
24. What do we find out? What do we find out?
25. What we look for Did they succeed? Did they backtrack? How fast did they click? Which sections need work?
26. Some data, please!
27. At a glance
28. Low-scoring task
29. Low-scoring pie tree
30. High-scoring task
31. High-scoring pie tree
32. It’s not about the tool Are there other ways to test this?
33. Closed card sorting
34. Card-based classification evaluation Your 9-year-old son asks for a new belt with a cowboy buckle
35. Other ways to test trees
36. Best bang for the buck  Online TT tools = quick and easy  Fast to get up and running  Easy for participants, on their own time  The analytical gruntwork is mostly done for you  Choice of commercial tools…
37. C-Inspector (Steffen Schilb)
38. UserZoom (tree-testing module)
39. Treejack (Optimal Workshop)
40. It’s not about the tool It’s not about the bike tool
41. Lessons learned Some lessons we’ve learned
42. When to test When to run a tree test?
43. Phases in design process Research Open card sorts Baseline tree test Design Test tree 1, 2 Revise, retest Testing Usability test
44. Test against an existing tree Test new vs. old
45. ACC old tree 30%
46. ACC new tree 67%
47. test alternative trees Test new vs. new
48. recipes • French • Italian • German • Japanese – Sushi – Teppanyaki – Yakitori • Chinese • Breakfast – Hot – Cold • Lunch • Dinner • Snacks • Beef • Poultry – Chicken – Turkey – Duck • Pork • Vegetarian Recipes
49. DIA example
50. test iteratively Lather, rinse, repeat
51. Typical test schedule (design phase) Week 1 Create tree 1 Create tree 2 Week 2 Run test 1 Run test 2 Week 3 Analyse results Revise best tree Week 4 Run revised test Analyse results Round 1 Round 2
52. Revising the best tree + =
53. Different tasks for different groups Different strokes tasks for different folks
54. Shimano example
55. How many? How many? 50 Users/group 10 tasks/user
56. Analysis – what should you be looking for? What should we look for?
57. Low success scores
58. Where did they go?
59. Lots of backtracking
60. Evil attractors
61. Current limitations of the method All sunshine and lollipops?
62. Only works with traditional tree structures
63. WebMD
64. Only tests certain factors Organisation Labeling Navigation (e.g. menus, see-also links) Content (e.g. supporting text) Visual design • Good and bad
65. How good are your tasks? Too many tasks Badly worded tasks
66. Don’t give away the answer! “You need to get reimbursed for expenses. Find the form.” •Library •Expenses/Reimbursements •Rules for claiming expenses •Expense forms •Who to contact •Travel
67. No perfect tool (yet)
68. Not a replacement for usability testing
69. What next? What next?
70. Better visualisation of results
71. Testing navigation too
72. Summary  Tree testing = organisation and labeling  Gives you a rough answer, very early  Brings some objective data to the discussion  Reveals IA problems to u-test later  One more tool for your UX toolkit
73. Tree testing – further reading  Donna Spencer: paper testing http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/card_based_classification_evaluation  Dave O’Brien: online tree testing http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/tree-testing  Step Two Designs: tree testing overview http://www.steptwo.com.au/papers/kmc_treetesting  Measuring Usability: tree testing overview http://www.measuringusability.com/blog/tree-testing-ia.php
74. Let’s talk IA! Dave O’Brien dave@optimalexperience.com
75. Make like a tree…and leave