12 - Analyzing results
"How many roads must a man walk down, before you can call him a man?" - Bob Dylan
This is what we've been waiting for - actual results from actual users. Now, we just need to figure out what the data means.
Luckily, the basic results from tree tests are usually easy to understand - easier, say, than a typical open card sort. And if we're using tree-testing software, the results have already been summarized and visualized, ready for us to discover how well our tree(s) performed.
Cleaning the data
Backing up raw data, removing garbage, updating correct answers
Sharing the data
Publishing via the tool, sharing logins, uploading results to the cloud
Reviewing overall results
Overall success rate, directness, speed, and overall score
Analyzing by task
Where they went, clicked first, backtracked, slowed down, gave up, etc.
Analyzing by branches
Looking for clusters of right and wrong answers
Analyzing by user group or other criteria
Filtering results using survey questions, and comparing them
Discovering evil attractors
What they are, how to spot, why they happen, how to get rid of them
Key points
Copyright © 2016 Dave O'Brien
This guide is covered by a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.