1

Does anyone have any experience testing navigation titles? I am having a hard time coming up with copy that is intuitive to the customer so that they know what the page encompasses before having to navigate to it.

I have a few options and was thinking of simply creating index cards and asking them to rank from what makes the most sense to what makes the least sense but was hoping that if someone in this community has a better idea, I would love to hear it.

1
  • Without opening up a whole can of worms, you might consider questions or topics relating to A/B testing of the copy against a task that will lead to the desired user action. It would be hard to test what 'makes sense the most' because it might also depend on more than just the navigation title (i.e. there are other cues or triggers that could affect the user behaviour).
    – Michael Lai
    Aug 4, 2018 at 0:19

2 Answers 2

1

Generally, I think titles should match the users' mental model. E.g. the meaning of X might not be the same to you as to your product's target audience.

To uncover this, I think you'll need to test the Information Architecture.

One way to test the Information Architecture is by performing card sorting.

Card sorting is a UX research technique in which users organize topics into groups. Use it to create an IA that suits your users' expectations.

Source: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/card-sorting-definition/

You can perform card sorting:

You may also decide whether to do open or closed card sorting.

Open Card Sort: Participants are asked to organize topics from content within your website into groups that make sense to them and then name each group they created in a way that they feel accurately describes the content. Use an open card sort to learn how users group content and the terms or labels they give each category.

Closed Card Sort: Participants are asked to sort topics from content within your website into pre-defined categories. A closed card sort works best when you are working with a pre-defined set of categories, and you want to learn how users sort content items into each category. Source: https://www.usability.gov/how-to-and-tools/methods/card-sorting.html

0

I am pretty much against "which of these are easier to use?"

Simply because I can always argue pros and cons of both. pro's and cons don't always weigh the same either so it's hard to rank.

Users might also be influenced about the look of the navigation "this looks better" and not how easy it is to actual use.

However; I have another suggestion for you:

If you want to user test the navigation.

Create two different versions and then have the user find X information.

After they've found the information: let them rank how easy it from a scale of 1-5 or 1-10 if you will.

This is because you're then testing your ultimate goal: having user test how easy it is to navigate around.

1
  • 1
    Thanks for your comment! I should of mentioned that I am going to start testing two versions to see if the user can make sense of the navigation. After all the tests , during the reflection I was thinking of doing a ranking with nav titles. Was just not sure if ranking was the right methodology for something like this. Aug 3, 2018 at 20:54

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.