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To understand the fundamentals of tree testing better, check out these short introductory videos from tree-test tool vendors:
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As tree testing has emerged as a separate technique in the IA toolkit, people have given it a number of different names. To avoid confusion, here is a list of terms that are all refer to the method most popularly known as “tree testing”:
- Card-based classification evaluation
This was the original term used by Donna Spencer, who first documented the paper method in this 2003 Boxes & Arrows article. - Reverse (or inverse) card sort
This term links the method to card sorting (a complementary tool), but misleadingly implies that it involves sorting cards. - Task-based category testing
This term is more accurate, but still a bit of a mouthful.
- Information-architecture testing
This term is too broad; IA also includes other elements such as navigation, search, and searchcontent, which tree testing does not covertry to address. - Taxonomy testing
In the web world, taxonomies usually mean site trees, so this term is accurate, though harder to spell than "tree test".
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