Tree testing is used for assessing findability within the hierarchy of a website or app.

In tree testing, a text-only version of the site’s hierarchy is laid out in front of test participants, who are asked to highlight a category or page within that structure where they would expect to find a particular item or piece of content.

During a tree test, you’ll set a task for your participant to complete. For instance: “You are on a camping supply website, where would you go to find a sleeping bag? Click through the main menu until you arrive at the location you’d expect to find it.”

Then you can look at the following measures in order to help make improvements:

• Directness: the percentage of users completing the task without hesitation and getting the correct answer first time
• Success: the percentage of users that completed the task vs. failed attempts
• Time: the time it took users to complete a task