July 30, 2021
4 min

Why is information architecture important to web design?

What is Information Architecture?

Information architecture (IA) is a term used to describe how content or information is organised and arranged. This can relate to a website, a retail store or an app. And you could even consider the way a library is sorted to be IA. 

For the purposes of this we will be focussed on websites. IA is fundamentally important to the success of your website. It determines how your users will access the information and the success of their user experience (UX) whilst on your website. And ultimately if you can keep users on your website long enough to complete their task.

IA can be broken down into 3 main areas to consider when building great user experience:

  • Navigation: How people make their way through information (website content)
  • Labels: How information is named and represented.
  • Search: How people will look for information (keywords, categories)

When put like this it does seem pretty straightforward. Maybe even simple? But these tasks need to be straightforward for your users. Putting thought, time and research in at the front of your design and build can mean an intuitive website is built. But at any point in your websites life cycle it can be of value to test and review. IA is the structure that sits in behind and allows the design to tell the story and the content to be found in an easy way.

Why is Information Architecture important to web design? 🏗️

If you’ve ever tried to use something and thought, “where am I supposed to go next?” or “this doesn’t make any sense,” you are encountering an issue with an information architecture.
The Information Architecture Institute

The way in which your users will use your website depends largely on how the information is presented and organised. By following through the tasks that you expect your users to undertake you can better understand the user experience. If the user can easily flow from point to point, finding what they need in a quick and efficient (and ideally intuitive manner) they are far more likely to stick around. And return when they need to.

The opposite is definitely true also. If users find your website difficult to follow, hard to navigate and get lost or confused. They will not stick around to find out more. They will move on, and swiftly, to your competition. Frustrated, and disengaged. You will find it difficult to win them back.

What does good information architecture look like for my users? 👀

By providing a simple, clear and straightforward path users can stay focussed on their task, removing overwhelm and confusion. How often do you disappear ‘down a rabbit hole’ when on the internet? Confusing paths or overwhelming options may mean users move off on tangents, and become less likely to complete their initial task. Ultimately the best user experience is one that delivers the right information at the right time. Not too slow and not too complicated

Always keep in mind that a great IA is:

  • Navigation: Always think straightforward, simple and intuitive.  Keep the navigation menu clean, clear and brief. Content and information where it’s expected to be. No point putting dog collars under dog food.
  • Labels: Consider how pages, content and information is named. This needs to be direct and simple to understand. If you want people to find your store label the page ‘location’ or ‘find us’ or even ‘find our store’.
  • Search: Most of your users will use search as a last resort. They will try to navigate their way through your website before resorting to a search option. Considering carefully the keywords for information that support the search tool. If they have already failed to find the information through your navigation, don’t let them down now.

With all of these lined up in behind great web design, which is clear, bright and attractive. Along with language which appeals to your user.  You are providing a UX that will entice, engage and ultimately keep them on your website and converting.

What does great information architecture look like for my organization?

Great IA goes beyond simply being about your user experience. Your organization can benefit hugely with testing, research and insights put into your website IA. 

With an IA that creates an easy navigable and engaging website your users are less likely to move off to your competitors. You’ve worked hard to get them to your website, through marketing and SEO. Delivering what your user expects and making it easy to find, means they will complete their task, and are far more likely to return

By finding what they need quickly, and intuitively, users are more likely to be converted and generate leads or sales. Delivering and answering questions can also reduce the need for support. If you can, your organization's website should answer your users questions, before they complete. This means they are less likely to need to email and /or call for support, reducing overheads and time lag before conversion.

Your organization's reputation is so important, your website may be your only interaction with users. If they have an easy user experience, their questions answered, and are able to complete what they need simply they leave with a great impression of your organization. They are more likely to return and their overall takeaway is that your organization is trustworthy, organised and easy to deal with. The opposite is quite possible with poor IA and design. You get but one chance to grab their attention and keep them. Do it badly and you may never get them back.

Creating great information architecture 👷🏻

User research with OptimalSort

Of course the best website IA is based on your users experience. And there is no better way to get a full understanding of your users than by conducting research. At any point in your website's life cycle it can be beneficial to undertake research such as card sorting. At the beginning stages of your website build is best, but your website should be evolving as your organization does, therefore any time there are shifts in what you do or offer is a great time to revisit your UX and how best to deliver this. OptimalSort tests users on how they intuitively would like to see information sorted on your website. Building IA based on data, rather than assumptions, will mean that content and information can be sorted in a way that truly delivers a simple and intuitive experience.

Maintaining your website with Treejack

With a great IA, based on card sorting user research, your website content needs to be maintained. Tree testing allows you to see where your users are getting lost in your website navigation. And also how they expect to look for key information. The Treejack tool provides real user insights on how your website navigation is working, how it can work better, and ultimately how to fix paths that don’t work. Providing hard data to inform an intuitive IA.

Wrap Up 🌮

So, information architecture is fundamental to your website and how it operates. Want to learn more about information architecture? Take a look at our article, or download 'The Actionable IA Guide'.

Supporting your website with user research can mean you build and design a intuitive website that simply rocks! 

Learn more about card sorting with our 101 guide. And more on tree testing. 

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1 min read

Information architecture lives here : make IA part of your digital space

There is an enormous amount of information on the internet. Every page you load is crammed with it. With so much information around, it’s incredibly important to remember that for human minds to be able to actually process and make sense of it, considered, strategic, ordered information architecture is needed.

Information architecture is everywhere digitally, but where does it actually live? IA sits in behind all of the digital interfaces we humans use (and even out in the real world). It ideally has been considered, researched, and implemented with humans in mind, though as we all know, this isn’t always the case.  

Information architecture always has a role to play, and here we’ll focus on 4 key digital spaces where information architecture is most prominent, and likely most familiar.

  1. Websites
  2. Apps
  3. Company intranet
  4. Social media software

To find out more about putting information architecture into action check out our blog.

1. Websites 🌐

Information architecture for websites can often be confused with navigation. While site navigation is super important, (think of it as the ‘skin’ that sits above the information), that’s only part of the story. Great website architecture considers and organizes user requirements, organizing the content and structure of the website with labels, search and navigation that simply makes sense and is easy to use. Done well, it will  feel simple and straightforward, guiding users through smoothly.

Hubspot has a great article on IA for websites and how they can be structured. From a complex library system, to travel booking systems. Each has its own needs and can be quite deep in layers of information. The trick is to create a website structure, based on user needs, that makes sense of the piles of information and a simple navigation that sits above, making the journey to task completion as quick as possible. Working together they make any user experience feel quick, simple, and intuitive! 

2. Apps 📱

An organization's app acts as the first point of contact. It needs to be super simple, clean, and quick to interact with. A well thought out, thorough, researched, and organized information architecture plays a big part in this.

Information architecture for mobile use has a different set of rules than websites. The key consideration here is around the ease of use across a smaller screen. Navigation that makes sense for a laptop or desktop computer can be clunky in a mobile app.

An app's interface needs to have fewer options, and fewer clicks to complete the task. Researching and designing an app’s IA with just the right amount of information is key. Some retail apps are simplified websites, whereas other apps exist on their own merits, with no need for a website.

Bringing it back to the humans that will interact with the app is key to creating a product that delivers on user requirements and increases interaction. 

3. Intranet 🖥

An organizational intranet is possibly less of a priority than a website or an app but is vitally important to the success of an organization. And in these times of remote or hybrid working, intranets have proven to be more valuable than ever. An intranet is more than where to stick newsletters for staff, it is an interface that can make or break the productivity or even the wellbeing of an organization. 

Access to files, information, messaging platforms, and corporate requirements wherever and whenever people are working is more important than ever.  A well researched and designed information architecture can build an intranet that meets users’ requirements, increase communication and interaction and ultimately boost productivity. 

Conducting UX research with staff on what they need to access, when, and how will help inform the intranet IA far more intuitively. The information available (and needed) can be huge, keeping it simple and human focused is key.

Have you ever thought about how poor internal information architecture might be hurting your business?

4. Social media 🤳

Social media software is complex in terms of ecosystem and display of information. Each social media platform has developed over time, think back to Facebook and how it looked when it initially launched. And through the uptake of users, gathering of information over time, and continual research and testing, it has evolved into what we see today. And will continue to evolve with users’ needs.

Every user has a different experience based on the individuals, groups, organizations and even retailers that they choose to interact with (or haven’t chosen via advertising). The piles of information that sit behind and are brought to the interface for an individual through their choice, associations, labels, tags, interests, age, etc will present them with a unique feed. 

The interface of a social media platform needs to be considered, tested, tested again, and occasionally tested or changed once launched as the interaction of users is vitally important.

The information architecture sitting behind is huge in order to enable the agility to pull the right information forward in a dynamic and coherent way. Continuously learning, testing and requesting interaction from users through options to ‘hide’ posts that aren’t appropriate or respond to direct queries about what they do and don’t want to see are just some instances of continuous user research.

Social media continues to be a sophisticated information architecture that is constantly updating and changing with user needs.

Wrap Up 🫔

Information architecture lives wherever there is information needing to be found by humans. Successful information architecture is sorted, organized and labeled in a way that is simple, intuitive, and considered. Making interaction and life simple, which in a world where there are an increasing number of websites, apps, and tools to choose from – intuitive information architecture has never been more important for your business and your customers.

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1 min read

Testing FAQs with people who don’t use your site

“Questions are never indiscreet, answers sometimes are.”Oscar Wilde

Frequently asked question pages. Love them or hate them, I don’t think they’re going anywhere anytime soon. This debate has been going on for quite some time and there is an equal number of opinions on both sides of the FAQ fence. Nielsen Norman Group’s Susan Farrell says FAQs can still add value to a website when done properly, and Gerry McGovern says FAQs are the dinosaurs of web navigation.

So, how do we really know for sure if they will or won’t add value to a design? Like anything in UX, you have to test it! I don’t know about you, but I’m a shake-it-and-see-what-falls-out kind of UXer, so naturally I decided to run a Treejack study. Scouring the web one fine day, I came across Sainsbury’s Active Kids. Its FAQ page was unlike any I had ever seen and I knew I’d found the one. I was also curious to see how it would test with people who don’t use the website — after all, anyone should be able to use it. Since Active Kids is an active lifestyle program for UK schools and sports clubs, I recruited my participants entirely from the US.

Pull up a chair and get comfy because what I found out should serve as a lesson to us all.

Why Active Kids? 🤸🏼

First of all, why did I choose this in the first place? The Active Kids FAQ page caught my attention for three main reasons:

  • structure
  • labels
  • content

The structure of this FAQs page is quite deep, complex and very different from the rest of the site — almost like another information architecture (IA) had been built within the main structure. Imagine you have a large warehouse with hundreds of shelves, and then somewhere in the middle of it, someone builds a house — that’s how it felt to me.

There are two ways to get to it: through the “Help” label on the top navigation bar and the “FAQ” label in the footer. It also uses a combination of drop-down filters that the user needs to apply, but it also has automatic filter options and confusing labels that can send you down a path you don’t necessarily want to take.

I also found it very interesting that most of the information contained within the FAQs section cannot be located anywhere else on the website and most of this is essential to gaining a fundamental understanding of what Active Kids actually does. Adding to the house in the warehouse analogy, it’s like the house holds all the key information the warehouse needs to function, but no one knows which room it’s kept in.

The top level of the FAQs section

Setting up the study 🛠️

Treejack was the perfect choice for testing the findability of information on the Active Kids FAQ page and I decided to test the IA of the website as a whole — this means both the warehouse and the house. I couldn’t just test the house in isolation because that’s not how a user would interact with it. The test needed the context of the whole site to gain an understanding of what’s going on. Creating a Treejack study is quick and easy and all you have to do is build the structure out in a basic Excel spreadsheet and then copy and paste it into Treejack.

My next job was to determine the task based scenarios that my participants would use during the study. I decided to choose nine and all were derived from content located in the FAQs section and related to tasks a user might carry out when investigating or participating in the program. Once I had my tree and my tasks, all I had to do was set the correct answers based on where the information currently sits on the Active Kids website and I was ready to launch.

Recruiting participants for the study🙋🏾

In my experience,recruiting participants for a Treejack study is quick and easy. All you have to do is determine the screener criteria for your participants and Optimal Workshop takes care of the rest. For this study I requested 30 participants and they all had to reside in the US. I ended up with 31 completed responses and it was all over in less than two hours.

Treejack results 🌲

So, what fell out of that tree when I tested a website aimed at parents and teachers of kids in the UK with 31 Americans? I’ll be honest with you: it wasn’t pretty. Here’s what I discovered in this study:

The overview tab for the Treejack results
The overview tab for the Treejack results

  • 81 per cent were unable to find out if home educators were eligible to apply (number 1 on the graph)
  • 65 per cent were unable to find out what a Clubmark accreditation is (number 2 on the graph)
  • 68 per cent were unable to find out how to share their wishlist with friends and family (number 3 on the graph)
  • 64 per cent could not find the information that would explain the purpose of the £1 fee mentioned in the terms and conditions (number 4 on the graph)
  • 97 per cent could not locate the information that would tell them if they could use a voucher from 2014 in 2015 (number 5 on the graph)
  • No participant was able to determine if students from a middle school would be able to participate in Active Kids (number 8 on the graph)
  • 58 per cent of participants in this study were unable to find out what the program is even about (number 9 on the graph)

On the flip side, 68 per cent of participants in this study were able to locate a phone number to contact Active Kids directly (number 6 on the graph) and 97 per cent were successfully able to work out how to redeem vouchers (number 7). Overall, it wasn’t great.In addition to some very useful quantitative data, Treejack also provides detailed information on the pathways followed by each participant.

Understanding the journey they took is just as valuable as discovering how many found their way to the correct destination. This additional level of granularity will show you where and when your user is getting lost in your structure and where they went next. It’s also handy for spotting patterns (e.g., multiple participants navigating to the same incorrect response).

I always set my studies to collect responses anonymously and when this occurs, Treejack assigns each participant a numerical identifier to help keep track of their experience without the participant having to share his or her personal details. For task 6, the paths chart below shows that participants numbered eight to 20 were able to navigate directly to the correct answer without deviating from the correct path I defined during setup.

Paths followed by participants in this study for Task 6
Paths followed by participants in this study for Task 6

For Task 3 (below) , the story told by the paths was quite different. Participant number five navigated back and forth several times through the structure in their attempt to locate information on how to share a wishlist. After all that effort, they were unable to find the information they needed to complete the task and nominated to contact Active Kids directly. Not only is this a bad experience for the user but it also puts unnecessary pressure on the call centre because the information should be readily available on the website.

Paths followed by participants in this study for Task 3
Paths followed by participants in this study for Task 3

Treejack also provides insights into where participants started their journey by recording first click data. Just like Chalkmark, this functionality will tell you if your users are starting out on the right foot from that all important first click.In this study I found it interesting that when looking for information regarding the eligibility of home educators in the Active Kids program, 42 per cent of participants clicked on “Schools & Groups” and 19 per cent clicked on “Parents & Community” for their first click. Only 6 per cent clicked on “Help”, which happens to be the only place this information can be found.

First click results for Task 1
First click results for Task 1

I also found the first click results for Task 9 to be very interesting. When looking for basic information on the program, more than half (52 per cent) of the participants in this study went straight to “Help”. This indicates that, for these participants, none of the other options were going to provide them the information they needed.

First click results for Task 9
First click results for Task 9

What can be learned from this study? 🎓

I mentioned earlier there was a lesson in this for everyone, and rather than dwell on how something tested, it’s time to move on to some lessons learned and constructive ideas for improvement. Based on the results of this Treejack study, here are my top three recommendations for improving the Active Kids website:

Rethink the content housed in the FAQs section

Most of the key information required to master the basics of what Active Kids is all about is housed entirely in the FAQs section. FAQs should not be the only place a user can find out basic information needed to understand the purpose of a product, program or service. I believe this website would benefit from some further thinking around what actually belongs in the FAQs section and what could be surfaced much higher.

Another idea would be to follow the lead of the Government Digital Service and remove the FAQs section altogether — food for thought. Frequently asked questions would not be frequently asked questions if people could actually find the information on your site in the first place. Figure out where the answers to these questions really belong.

If you’re using Treejack, just look at the fails in your results and figure out where people went first. Is there a trend? Is this the right place? Maybe think about putting the answer the user is looking for there instead.

Restructure the FAQs section

If you must have an FAQs section (and believe me I do understand that they don’t just disappear overnight! Just try to keep it as an interim solution only) please consider streamlining the way they are presented to the user. Ditch the filtering and display the list on one page only. Users should not have to drill down through several layers of content and then navigate through each category. For further reading on getting your FAQs straight, this Kissmetrics article is well worth a read.

Review the intent of the website

Looking at the Active Kids website and the results from this study, I feel the intent of this website could use some refining. If we come back to my warehouse and house analogy, the main chunk of the website (the warehouse) seems to be one giant advertisement, while the house (the FAQs) is where the action-oriented stuff lies. The house seems to hold the key information that people need to use the program and I think it could be displayed better. Don’t get me wrong, Active Kids does some incredibly good work for the community and should absolutely shout its achievements from the rooftops, however a sense of balance is required here. I think it’s time for the house and the warehouse to join forces into a solution that offers both rooftop shouting and usable information that facilitates participation.

The value of fresh eyes 👀

This study goes to show that regardless of where you are in your design process, whether that’s at the very beginning or a few years post-implementation, there is value to be gained from testing with a fresh set of eyes. I’m still undecided on which side of the FAQs debate I belong to — I’m going to sit on the fence and stand by the “if in doubt — test it” school of thought.

Further reading:

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1 min read

Understanding and refining choreography for your information architecture

What is information architecture (IA) without its complementary elements? On this blog we’ve already discussed the information architecture elements of taxonomy and ontology, and now it’s time to take a look at choreography. While taxonomy refers to how information is grouped, classified and labeled and ontology refers to the meaning behind our words, choreography describes the rules for how all those parts should interact.

Choreography is essentially the nuts and bolts that bring organization, structure and meaning together to form one well-oiled machine that supports, enables and delights users on their path to task completion within a specific context.An often overlooked element of information architecture, nailing your choreography is essential to the delivery of a seamless user experience because it is present in everything your users will do on your website.

Understanding choreography and IA

Coming back to our house analogy from my taxonomy blog, choreography would be present throughout the entire house determining how everything works together. It’s in the positioning of the door handles and hinges to enable easy access and use of rooms and so you don’t swing an open door into a shower screen or into the knees of a toilet user (who should have locked the door anyway). Choreography appears in open plan living environments seamlessly flowing from one space to the next. The way that the laundry is usually a room that includes an external door allowing an easy workflow from storing the dirty clothes, to washing them to hanging them outside on the line to dry. These are all examples of choreography.

In the context of a website, choreography is present in a number of different website elements. These might include: the rules for how a menu might respond or behave under specific circumstances, the way the user interface adapts to suit different devices, the hierarchical relationship between content and much more.

Choreography examples

To help you understand how choreography might appear in a website IA context, I’ve scoured the internet and have found 3 interesting examples I’d like to share with you.

Mental Floss

Mental Floss is an online publication designed for curious minds — sounds awesome! But the thing I find most interesting is the choreography that is present in the surfacing behavior of the top navigation menu. There are two different ways to access its content: you can either click on the big orange menu button in the top right hand corner and you’ll get everything in one hit — including the footer links (see two images below) — or you can scroll down or up the page and it will automatically drop down and become sticky giving you just the level 1 IA headings and that sticky orange menu button (see third image below).

A screenshot of the homepage of Mental Floss. The headline says "The typo that helped end World War II"

Mental Floss as it appears when I first open the home page.

Mental_floss_menu

When I click on the big orange button

Menal_Floss_scroll

Now look what happens when I scroll a bit.... Ta da!

If you go with the scrolling option, you’re not going to miss out because Mental Floss appears to have been designed to be explored — might have something to do with that curiosity thing! All the links that live under the big menu button are distributed throughout the long scrolling page, so when you’re exploring the content, you also get everything! If you get really stuck, that sticky orange menu button is always there to help. If I scroll I get one thing and if I click I get something else, but no matter how I choose to consume the content I get access to everything without having to think about it. This website’s choreography supports both exploratory and direct navigation styles and brings all the parts together.

IKEA US Inspiration page

Part blog, part catalogue, part how-to hub, the Inspiration page on IKEA’s US website is a fascinating IA example because it exists outside the patterns used on the rest of the website. It’s like an IA within an IA. While the rest of the website has a wide rigid structure typical of large IAs, the Inspiration page (also titled ‘IKEA Ideas’) is more organic and is organized by content tags and is navigated by filtering (see below).

Ikea_Ideas
The IKEA Ideas homepage and tag cloud.
Tag_Cloud

The tag cloud-like thing displays the content tags in alphabetical order. Each piece can be assigned up to four tags and users can filter by clicking or just peruse the whole lot by scrolling. Upon clicking a content tag, the piece selection below is automatically updated to only include pieces with the selected tag.Choreography on this part of IKEA’s US website is present in the relationship and behavior of the content tags and how that affects the information on the page.

Do nothing for 2 minutes

Do nothing for 2 minutes has a completely flat IA and its choreography is present in the way it responds to user behavior and the way it presents visual and audio content. The website opens to a single page (see below image) showing an image of a beautiful sunset at the beach accompanied by the soothing sound of waves gently crashing and a group of seagulls fighting over a pickle someone tossed them from a McDonald’s cheeseburger (maybe that was me). It gives me a very clear instruction to “do nothing for 2 minutes” and presents a timer that immediately starts counting down.

Do_Nothing
A relaxing scene on the 'Do nothing for 2 minutes homepage'

In the centre of the screen in that sunlight created highlight are the the words “Just relax and listen to the waves. Don’t touch your mouse or keyboard.” It’s a bit hard to read and I didn’t instantly notice it but when I don’t follow its guidance, the timer resets and tells me to “try again”(see below image).

Do_Nothing_Fail
When I fail to do nothing, the timer resets

When I comply with its instructions, the clock ticks down and when there are just 40 seconds to go something magical happens — the wave sounds stop. It’s not jarring or surprising, in fact it actually felt like I dropped to a deeper state of relaxation. Like an experienced lead dance partner, this website’s choreography pushes and pulls the follower where it wants them to go. The rule here is: if I touch my mouse or keyboard, the clock resets, and if I follow the instructions, I get to access an additional layer of relaxation when the sound drops off. It forces me to take 2 whole minutes of out my day in a strict but supportive way.

When I reach the end of the 2 minutes, I’m congratulated and shown an advertisement for a book to help me further explore this technique. I usually hate seeing things like that but I don’t mind in this case because it doesn’t come across as pushy and it’s already given me something.

Refining the choreography of your IA

When you break it down, choreography is about behaviors and relationships between all the pieces of the IA. It’s about which parts go together, what they do and how that fits in with everything else. Think content pairings in a card sort and the hierarchical position of content within the IA’s tree structure — why do those cards go together and why does label Y appear directly before label X? These choices are deliberate; it’s not just a case of “Oh let’s just put them wherever,” or “I’m going to whack a certain label at the very top because my boss told me because that’s where he thinks it should go.” Choreography exists throughout your entire IA and like everything else, all refinements must be determined by user research.

When running a card sort, pay close attention to:

  • card pairings
  • cards that are consistently not paired
  • the hierarchy of cards within each group (card order)
  • the conversation between your participants (moderated card sorts only) for insights into the logic behind the pairings and hierarchical positioning

Cards that are paired — or not — as well as their hierarchical placement can not only provide insight into your users’ taxonomical expectations but can also help you identify relationships (or lack thereof) between content and elements. Say you were running a card sort on an intranet and two cards labeled ‘Annual Leave’ and ‘Public Holidays’ were consistently being grouped together under ‘Human Resources’. What’s their expected relationship and interaction beyond the subject matter connection? Does one appear before the other? Is one linked to the other one’s page? Or are they together on one page and if so how do they interact? (if at all). For moderated card sorts, listen closely to the conversation for insight into this and be sure to ask your participants about anything you’re not sure of.

If your IA is a bit further along in its development or you’d like to evaluate an existing IA, tree testing can help you understand the choreography that will best support your users.

Keep an eye on:

  • the location of the first click
  • the pathways followed

The pathways followed by participants in a tree test will help you determine the right sequence of interactions required by a user to reach their goal — the ultimate step by step flow to task completion. What order do the labels need to be in? And what lives underneath them? And again, in what order?Think of it like a path through the woods to a lake. Your IA’s choreography should enable your users to be seamlessly guided along a smooth pathway made of big stone steps. They shouldn’t be running into trees or bushwhacking to create their own pathways.

When looking at a tree test, consider how many of your participants did not follow the pathway/s you defined as correct. Where did they go instead? What does the right path look like to your users? Also look at where the all important first click landed. If users start out on the correct first click, they are almost 3 times as likely to reach their goal. If your participants started out on a different first click, you’ll need to explore why that is. It could indicate ambiguity in the labels, it could also be a sign of an expectations mismatch, a hierarchical issue or it could be something else entirely! The tree test will help you identify where the issues are, but you’ll need to go and have a conversation with your users to understand why it’s happening.

Unless more than say 80% of your participants achieved direct success in reaching their goal (meaning they never strayed from the big stone path that you defined) you’ll need to check these things anyway to resolve findability and usability issues. Choreography related insights are an extra thing you can pull from what you’re already doing. And of course always remember that any choreography related data has to be considered in conjunction with whether or not the labels are even correct. Choreography is just one piece of the puzzle; it sets the rules for how all the parts interact and isn’t going to be much help if the parts aren’t even right in the first place!

Choreography in information architecture might be one of the most overlooked elements but it’s not hard to give it the time and consideration it deserves and your users will thank you for it!

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