This guide is about tree testing, described by Wikipedia as:

a usability technique for evaluating the findability of topics in a website

Tree testing originated as a paper-based method created by Donna Spencer. It is now mostly done online using commercial tools such as Treejack and UserZoom.

This guide is based on lessons learned from hundreds of tree tests and dozens of Information Architecture (IA) projects run for small, medium, and large organizations.

Originally conceived as a book, Tree Testing for Websites has been released as a community wiki so that:

• It can reach the widest audience possible (by Internet searching and word-of-mouth linking).
• The community can update it to match the latest developments in IA methods and tree-testing software.
• Readers can comment on articles (no login required) and even add their own content (get a login below).

Contributing to this guide

Have some hard-earned wisdom to share with the tree-testing community? Contact us to get a login so you can contribute to this wiki.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Andrew Mayfield and the folks at Optimal Workshop for the idea of writing a book about tree testing, and for supporting it along the way.

Thanks to Donna Spencer for her IA wisdom and early outlines for this guide.