Car and Driver Navigation Research - Tree Test

The goal of this tree test is to assess the findability of content on Car and Driver's site

The Tree testing shows us how users interact with an information architecture in the absence of a search function, design, and other navigation elements. Participants are presented with a task and are asked to click through the tree until they land on a page where they think they’ll find the answer. They then click a button that says ‘I’d find it here’, and move on to the next task. For this tree test, we wanted to:

test the clarity and effectiveness of the information architecture reveal which parts of the navigation confused users.

Objectives

Assess the findability of Car and Driver global navigation.

Test the quality of current Information Architecture levels based on a series of tasks achieved by the participant

Focus on the comprehensibility and clarity of the terms used and the findability of content areas and information as well as the overall usability of the Global Navigation.

Determine Car and Driver search ability – How well can users navigate C/D, and what areas cause the most problems with navigation?

Validate future changes – Did the navigation label/content update correctly fix the problem? or are further iterations necessary?

Objective/ Hypothesis

• CAR ENTHUSIAST

By redesigning the global navigation and making the terms easy to understand, car enthusiast will be able to find valuable content they are looking for. VALIDATED

• IN MARKET SHOPPER

By redesigning the global navigation and simplifying the hierarchy, users won’t guess where they land and won’t abandon the experience. VALIDATED

By redesigning the global navigation in market shoppers will be able to engage with the content to make smarter decision for a vehicle purchase. VALIDATED

Methodology

Sample 112 (car enthusiast)

Sample 161 (in market shoppers)

Remote un moderated test

Background Questions (persona | behavioral)

TREE | FIRST & 2ND LEVEL NAVIGATION

Based on  8 user tasks in total for our 2 testing groups. In Market Shoppers and Car Enthusiast these were the overall results 

Car and Driver Tree Test | In Market Shopper

Car and Driver Tree Test | Car Enthusiast

NEXT STEPS

Tree tests are great for establishing how effective an information architecture is based on these specific user tasks.

So after running the tree test, the recommendation is to run a  card sort on a selection of navigation content to find out how people would naturally group and label categories. Once the card sort results are gathered, an in person user testing to conceptualize new navigation designs will be recommended.