A tree testing tool with a real share link.
Build your navigation as a tree, write tasks, and share a real link. See success rate, directness and where people went wrong, per task. Free, no signup, no seat limit.
What's tree testing?
Tree testing is a UX research method that checks whether people can find things in a navigation structure using only text -- no visual design, colour or layout to help them. Participants see a plain, labelled hierarchy and try to find where a task would live by drilling down through it, which tells you whether the structure itself is findable.
Card sorting vs tree testing.
| Card sorting | Tree testing | |
|---|---|---|
| When to use it | Before you have a structure | Once you have a structure to check |
| What participants see | A pile of unsorted content items | A finished, labelled hierarchy |
| What it tells you | How people would group and name things | Whether people can find things in what you already built |
| Tool on this site | Card Sort Tool | This page |
Three steps, no design required.
1. Build the tree
Enter your categories and items -- your real navigation, or a proposed one you haven't built yet.
2. Share the link
Send participants a plain, chrome-free page. No signup for them, no app to install -- just the tree and your tasks.
3. Read the results
Per task: success rate, directness, and every path people actually took -- including the wrong ones.
Edit the example, or start from scratch.
Pre-filled with an electronics store's navigation and three tasks, so you can see the whole tool working end to end before touching anything.
Your tree
Top-level categories, each with items underneath. This editor supports two levels, which covers most real navigation menus -- edit the pre-filled example or clear it and build your own.
Tasks
Write each task as something a real user would think, not a navigation instruction -- "where would you find X" rather than "click on X". Pick the item that counts as correct for each.
Already have a study?
Paste your study key and results (owner) key to view your results.
An example tree test task.
- Customer Service the answer
- Track My Order
- Returns & Refunds
- Warranty Information
- Contact Us
- My Account the plausible wrong turn
- Order History
- Payment Methods
- Saved Addresses
- Laptops & Computers
- Laptops
- Desktops
- Monitors
- Computer Accessories
- Phones & Tablets
- Smartphones
- Tablets
- Cases & Covers
- Chargers & Cables
- TV & Audio
- Televisions
- Soundbars
- Headphones
The wrong turn is deliberate — the example shows the tool catching a real backtrack.
This tells you what happened, not why.
An unmoderated tree test shows you where people ended up and how directly they got there. It doesn't tell you why a label confused someone -- that needs a follow-up question or a moderated session. A handful of responses is enough to spot an obviously broken category; treat a small sample as indicative, not a statistically reliable measurement. This tool doesn't recruit participants for you -- you bring your own, whether that's colleagues, a mailing list, or a panel you already pay for.
Common questions
What's tree testing?
Tree testing checks whether people can find things in a navigation structure using text alone -- no visual design to help. See the definition above for the full explanation.
How is this different from a card sort?
A card sort is how you DESIGN a structure -- participants group items into categories that make sense to them, and you use the patterns to build a hierarchy. A tree test is how you VALIDATE a structure you already have -- participants are given a finished tree and try to find things in it. Do the card sort first if you don't have a structure yet; use the tree test once you do.
What's the difference between card sorting and tree testing?
Card sorting comes before you have a structure: participants see a pile of unsorted content items and group them, which tells you how people would group and name things. Tree testing comes once you have a structure to check: participants see a finished, labelled hierarchy and try to find things in it, which tells you whether people can find things in what you already built.
Can you provide an example of tree testing?
This page has a runnable one, pre-filled below: an electronics store's navigation (Laptops & Computers, Phones & Tablets, TV & Audio, Customer Service, My Account), with tasks like finding whether a recent order has shipped, buying a case for a new phone, or checking a warranty. Edit it directly to see how the tool records success, directness and where people go wrong.
How many participants do I need?
Classic usability guidance (Nielsen Norman Group) suggests five participants can surface most of the big, obvious problems with a structure, though the numbers here are indicative, not from any study of ours. More participants let you trust smaller differences between tasks and catch less common wrong turns. A handful of responses is enough to spot a badly-placed category; don't treat a five-person tree test as a statistically reliable measurement.
What does "directness" mean in the results?
Directness is the share of SUCCESSFUL attempts where the participant went straight to the right place without backtracking up a level first. A task can have a high success rate but low directness -- people eventually find the right answer, but only after trying somewhere else first, which is itself a sign the label or grouping isn't quite right even though it "worked".
Who can see my results?
Only whoever holds the results (owner) link, which is a separate, much longer secret from the link you share with participants. We generate it once, show it to you once, and can't recover it if you lose it -- there's no "forgot my results link" flow. Save it somewhere safe the moment you get it.
Want help running this with your team?
Whether that's a one-off review or training your team to run this themselves.
Part of a set
Designing the structure from scratch? Try the Card Sort Tool first, or check a single page's findability with the First-Click Test Tool.
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