Usability Testing Template
Navigation Information Scent Test Template
Information scent determines whether users feel they're on the right path toward their goal. This template helps you evaluate how well your labels, layout, and cues signal what's behind each navigation element-revealing where clarity breaks and where expectations fail.
Decision context
Navigation Information Scent Test helps reduce a real decision risk.
Use this when users report feeling "lost," when analytics show high backtracking, or when redesigning navigation. Ideal before shipping new menus, categories, or dashboard layouts.
Template preview
What is inside the template
The template combines first click + questions and surveys with focused follow-up prompts, so the team can collect the specific evidence described in the source study.
Study spine
A focused study spine, ready to adapt.
The preview shows the shape of the study: the stimulus or task, the core prompts, and the follow-up evidence Fred can help you collect.
Task 01
First-Click Testing
Where would you click first to view your past orders?
Ask participants to complete this task so the team can observe where the experience creates friction.
Prompt 02
Yes/No
Did you feel confident that this was the right place to start?
Capture the response as part of the study so the team can compare patterns across participants.
Prompt 03
Long text
What made this option feel like the correct location?
Capture the response as part of the study so the team can compare patterns across participants.
Prompt 04
Long text
If you hesitated or considered another option, what caused the uncertainty?
Capture the response as part of the study so the team can compare patterns across participants.
Prompt 05
Multiple Choice - Multiple select
Which elements influenced your decision?
Options: Label text, Icon, Placement, Familiar patterns, Color/visual hierarchy
Methods included
Research methods used by the template.
The preview above shows the template-specific prompts and tasks. This section explains the method types in general, so teams understand what each one is for.
First Click
Starting-point clarity
Method purpose
First-click testing shows where users go first when asked to complete a task, exposing weak labels, hierarchy, or information scent.
Questions and Surveys
Structured response capture
Method purpose
Survey questions collect text, scale, choice, date, numerical, or grid responses so teams can compare user feedback consistently.
Workflow in Fred
From template to decision-ready evidence
Fred gives you a structured starting point for the study, then helps you collect responses and turn recurring signals into evidence your team can review.
- 01Start from the prebuilt structureOpen the navigation information scent test template, then adapt the placeholder stimulus, task, or wording to match your product context.
- 02Collect focused responsesParticipants complete the first click + questions and surveys flow and answer the follow-up prompts that capture the decision signal.
- 03Review patterns and confidenceDiscover whether users choose the expected paths, which labels mislead them, and where information scent is weak.
- 04Share a decision-ready reportTurn the recurring evidence into a clear recommendation for the product, design, content, or research decision at hand.
Evidence output
What you can decide after running this template
The output should help the team move from opinions to concrete evidence about what users understood, selected, completed, preferred, or questioned.
Signal
Discover whether users choose the expected paths, which labels mislead them, and where information scent is weak.
Evidence
Learn how users interpret your terminology and which design elements support or undermine findability.
Action
Use the results to refine the experience before the decision becomes expensive to change.
Method fit
Use this template when the decision needs focused evidence.
Use this section to decide whether the template is the right starting point, or whether the research question needs a broader plan.
Good fit
Use this when users report feeling "lost," when analytics show high backtracking, or when redesigning navigation. Ideal before shipping new menus, categories, or dashboard layouts.
Use another method
You need statistically representative market sizing rather than directional research evidence. You have not defined the stimulus, task, concept, page, or feature that participants should evaluate. You need a broad discovery program instead of a compact template-led study.
Who it helps
Different teams can use the same evidence for different decisions.
The template keeps the study compact enough for a sprint, while still giving each role the evidence they need to move the decision forward.
UX Researcher
Problem
Needs evidence for a usability testing decision without designing the study from scratch.
Outcome
Gets a ready structure for collecting first click + questions and surveys evidence.
Product Manager
Problem
Needs to reduce uncertainty before a product, messaging, or experience decision hardens.
Outcome
Gets decision-ready signals that can be shared with the team before the next sprint commitment.
Related resources
Continue from this template to related methods and decisions.
Use these links to connect the template to the broader Fred workflow and supporting educational content.
FAQ
Practical details before you run the template.
Short answers for teams deciding whether this template fits the research decision in front of them.
Start the study
Use this template to collect evidence before the decision hardens.
Start with a structured study, collect focused evidence, and turn the results into a clearer product decision.
Output
A focused study, a clearer decision, and evidence your team can inspect.