Navigation usability testing: five tasks, five people

Key takeaways

The simplest navigation test is five people, five tasks and an observer who stays quiet. Ask each participant to find things your customers look for, such as a price or a service in their area, and note where they click first, where they hesitate and whether they succeed. Nielsen Norman Group's research suggests about five users reveal most problems in a round.

• Five participants who match your customers.
• Five realistic tasks, written without menu words.
• Watch silently; note first clicks, hesitations and success.
• Fix the worst problem, then test again with five more.

Why test navigation with real people?

Owners and designers know the site too well to see its problems. A label that seems obvious inside the business can mean nothing to a customer. Watching five outsiders try to find things shows exactly where the menu fails, in a few hours and at little cost.

• How clear website navigation improves user experience
• User testing for small business websites

How do you write good tasks?

Write tasks as goals a customer would have, without using the words in your menu, so you test whether visitors can match their need to your labels. 'You need your boiler checked before winter. Find out how much it costs' tests more than 'Find the boiler servicing page'.

• Base tasks on real enquiries.
• Avoid words that appear in the menu.
• Include price, service, area, proof and contact tasks.
• Give a clear end point so success is unambiguous.
• Keep each task to a minute or two.

• Menu labels: words visitors understand at a glance

How do you run the test?

Sit beside the participant or share a screen remotely. Read each task, then stay quiet; do not help or explain. Ask them to think aloud. Note the first click, any backtracking, the time taken and whether they succeeded. Test on the device most customers use, usually a phone.

• Start each task from the homepage or a typical landing page.
• Ask participants to think aloud.
• Record first click, backtracks, time and success.
• Do not help, even if they struggle.
• Ask one question at the end: what was hardest?

• First-click testing: is the first step the right one?
• Task success rate: the simplest navigation measure

How many people do you need?

About five per round for finding problems. Nielsen Norman Group's analysis found the first few users reveal most issues, with diminishing returns after five. It is better to run three rounds of five, fixing problems in between, than one round of fifteen.

What should you do with the results?

List every problem, note how many participants hit it and rank by severity. Fix the issues that stopped people completing tasks first. Most navigation fixes are labels, order and placement, which can be changed quickly and tested again with the next five people.

• How to redesign website navigation, step by step
• Tree testing: check visitors can find things before you build

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see: four of five participants asked to 'find out roughly how much this will cost' open 'Services' and scroll, because prices sit under 'How we work'. Renaming it 'Prices' and testing with five more people usually turns that task from a struggle into a single click.

• See client work
• Website Design & Development for UK businesses

Navigation test checklist

• Recruit five people who match your customers.
• Write five goal-based tasks.
• Test on phones if most visitors use them.
• Stay silent and record what happens.
• Rank problems by severity.
• Fix and retest.

• The navigation clarity score: rate your menu in 20 minutes
• Navigation metrics: proof visitors find their way

Next step

Write five tasks from your last ten enquiries and test them with one customer this week.