During top tasks usability testing 🔒, participants had some trouble navigating the site to find specific information because the way we have organized our information or how we have labeled content doesn't always match how users think it should be organized or labeled. Users often didn't know what heading label (components, patterns, templates, etc.) to select to find certain information as some of it seems to overlap.
For example, there is some confusion over how we define 'patterns' and it sometimes does not match how users define it. Another example is that there were a few tasks where participants did not start on the correct path - they may try to find design kits in the Templates section, for instance.
We should consider how we might reorganize the site information architecture to better match users’ mental models.
Consider the relationships between components, patterns, and templates and how these might be reorganized and integrated together instead of siloed. Or at least better cross-linked.
How might we make ‘patterns’ better match user expectations and needs?
Possible next steps:
[ ] Kickoff with the team to establish goals and scope for this IA initiative. Also establish what our questions are to guide research
[ ] Conduct a landscape analysis of how other design systems are organized
[ ] Plan and implement a card sort study (and refer to the 2024 USWDS content audit for a full 'tree' of how our content is currently organized)
[ ] Map out changes we may want to make to the IA based on evidence and validate with users (possibly with a tree test)
During top tasks usability testing 🔒, participants had some trouble navigating the site to find specific information because the way we have organized our information or how we have labeled content doesn't always match how users think it should be organized or labeled. Users often didn't know what heading label (components, patterns, templates, etc.) to select to find certain information as some of it seems to overlap.
For example, there is some confusion over how we define 'patterns' and it sometimes does not match how users define it. Another example is that there were a few tasks where participants did not start on the correct path - they may try to find design kits in the Templates section, for instance.
We should consider how we might reorganize the site information architecture to better match users’ mental models.
Possible next steps: