I am fairly new to UX and have started to take an evening class about it. I have learnt briefly about open and closed card testing, however I have some questions about using this method for navigation.
I am building a website which will have around 5-6 main navigation headings with some other items which will probably appear above the navigation such as “register/login”, a CTA, about links and advertise link.
What would be the best way to ask testers to organise these? Should I explain there will be a main nav section and also a top navigation section giving them the items for each to arrange in the order they think is best suited? Or is there a different way?
When organizing a navigation menu, you must first establish the site’s objectives and identify the most important sections or pages of the website.
The most important sections or pages must be highlighted, especially the CTAs.
The other sections, on the other hand, can be placed in a header area, but less highlighted, or in some areas of the pages or in the footer.
Then you need to provide two or more graphic layouts and draw up a list of tasks that your testers, divided into groups, have to perform.
For example. If the goal of the website is to sell services, you should ask testers to access the site and simulate the purchase of the most important service chosen in agreement with your client.
During the tests you should not make suggestions or intervene, but simply listen to the testers’ reasoning. In this way you will understand which layout works best and you will also have ideas to improve it.
These tests for economic reasons only take place on large portals where budgets are high. In general, however, it is the graphic designer who makes all decisions based on his experience. In the best case, you create at least two different pages (A/B test), publish them and after a certain period of time analyze the analytical data to find out which one was more successful.
My website will be used mainly by users that are looking for information and a secondary user that will be providing, or adding information via listings. Or should I be treating both set of users equal?
I assume I need to test the navigation on both set of users so I will set up a task for them to “find something” and a similar task to “add something” to the website which will be for the secondary user.
In your case, you need to highlight the content for most users. The navigation bar should then highlight the sections dedicated to them.
For users who need to enter content instead, you can place an access/registered link above the main navigation bar and the same link in the footer. On the Home Page and other pages you could insert a CTA box (experimenting with different positions and sizes, especially if the ad placement will be your source of income.
This is just a generic idea anyway. There may be several other options. The important thing is to continuously experiment and analyze all data in the long run.
So I would have a main navigation that would suit most users and then a secondary navigation (which would appear above the main nav) with a CTA and links relating to them.
Thanks again for your reply, that has helped me a lot.