"Plans are nothing; planning is everything." - Dwight D. Eisenhower
If you have a site structure to test and some tasks in mind, it’s tempting just to dive right in – set up the test, email a bunch of users, and watch the results come in. Easy, right?
However, you’ll get a lot more out of your testing if you take a step back and ask yourself some basic questions, such as:
- Why am I running this test? What am I specifically trying to find out?
- What am I testing – the whole tree, or just the top levels? Or two completely different trees?
- Who should I test – existing customers, or prospective ones too?
How you answer these questions can change how you run your test and analyze your results.
Why are you running this test?
Benchmarking, testing new/revised trees, comparing alternatives, etc.
How many rounds of testing?
2 rounds is standard, but even 1 round will improve your site.
Which trees will you test?
- overview text here
Who will you test?
- overview text here
When will you test?
overview text here
Which tool will you use?
- overview text here
Where will you test?
- overview text here
Who will do what?
- overview text here
How will you handle problems?
- overview text here
Documenting your plan
- overview text here