{"id":10592,"date":"2018-01-17T08:22:07","date_gmt":"2018-01-17T13:22:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/?p=10592"},"modified":"2018-01-17T08:22:07","modified_gmt":"2018-01-17T13:22:07","slug":"navigational-stress-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.invespcro.com\/blog\/navigational-stress-test\/","title":{"rendered":"Navigational Stress Tests: How to Increase Conversions With Three Simple Questions?"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 9<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

People believe that the key ingredient to making an attractive and useful webpage lies in its design quality. But the real underlying current that drives a visitor forward is the site\u2019s usability and navigation. User satisfaction significantly depends on the informational architecture of a website and how it delivers the necessary information.Unfortunately, the ability to easily navigate through a page, and find the necessary information is often prioritized lower than aesthetics. For the best user experience and visitor satisfaction, optimizing a webpage\u2019s navigational capability is imperative. And to quantitatively determine just how well a page can do that, we rely on the navigational stress test. This blog will highlight the significance of user navigation and how we can capitalize on it.<\/p>\n

The navigational stress test is just one quantitative measure of a website\u2019s overall user-friendliness. Approaching Conversion Rate Optimization is done through refining many parameters on a site. We do this via the SHIP method: Scrutinize, hypothesize, implement, propagate.<\/p>\n

The SHIP method<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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The SHIP methodology is a 12 step comprehensive approach to evaluating a website\u2019s conversion rate and how it can be optimized. One of the parameters that affect these conversion numbers is the navigational ease or \u201cscent\u201d of a webpage. Getting visitor A and B who may have different motivations and interests means providing them with the necessary elements that will allow them to find the adequate information they were seeking without frustration.<\/p>\n

The navigational stress test is one of the key areas of Invesp\u2019s SHIP (scrutinize, hypothesize, implement, propagate) process.\u00a0 Each part of this process is designed to elevate a marketer\u2019s understanding of the visitors, their behaviors, and how to design for them.<\/p>\n

Scrutinizing and best practices<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The basic concept of the navigation stress test is to examine a webpage based on its intended purpose and establish how well the webpage can convey its information. A page should effortlessly display essential information to its visitors regarding where they are and where they need to go. A visitor should have to put minimal effort to get answers to these questions.<\/p>\n

To better understand how much of an impact information architecture and navigation of a site can have, we use the example of skinnyties<\/a>. The site originated in 1997, but over the years, the site required revamping.<\/p>\n

Below is a screenshot of their home page before they reinvented their layout.<\/p>\n

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Off the bat, the range or scale of the products offered isn\u2019t clear. Links such as \u2018My Account\u2019, \u2018My Cart\u2019, and \u2018Login\u2019 are relatively of lesser importance but are placed at the top of the page. This ends up compromising on good special utilization, which is important for a site like this which emphasizes on visuals a lot. Contact information should be provided at the end of the page after the visitor has viewed the variety of the products. This is because the visitors\u2019 attention deviates to the center image directly. This makes it difficult for them to find relevant links.<\/p>\n

Irrelevant content about swatches, just below the image doesn\u2019t help the visitor orient himself. Also, space utilization is poor in the initial bracket of the page.<\/p>\n

Now let\u2019s consider the redesigned page of skinnyties that launched in October 2012:<\/p>\n

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With minimum content, the page conveys its intention – A wide selection of ties to dress better. Redefining how the ties are characterized, a visitor finds it easier to discover a tie of his liking. Filtering based on the collection, color, width, fabric etc. proved to be more effective than 1 \u00bd\u2019\u2019, 2\u2019\u2019, specials, etc. Also, these filters are strategically placed and more easily accessible.<\/p>\n

The developer rebuilt the store\u2019s information architecture (IA) from the product-level outward. Brendan Falkowski explains:<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cEvery tie has structured attributes for width, length, color, fabric, and pattern. Open-ended navigation creates multiple entry paths for every product and enables refining by any attribute at any time.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The website experienced a 42.4% revenue increase after the new design was launched.<\/p>\n

Cluttering the webpage with too much content can disorient a customer. Clear-cut and straightforward information provided at the right places proves to be far more effective.<\/p>\n

The Navigation Stress Tests Expert reviews<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>One of the parameters that are used to define a sites navigational performance is by tree testing or card-based classification. This defines the find-ability of a product or a page on the overall website. The information architecture of a site dramatically depends on the classification or assortment of information. Easily understood subheadings and titles allows a visitor to make his way through a website without getting lost.<\/p>\n

\"\"A large percentage of your audience doesn\u2019t visit a page via the home page. Indirect traffic is common as users get redirected to specific pages via, links, blogs, advertisement or URL. Keeping this in mind, it is essential to make each page understandable to the users. If a user is not able to acclimatize to a specific page, they will eventually lose interest and abandon the site. Information architecture plays a vital role in preventing this.\u00a0Nathaniel Davis explains:<\/a><\/div>\n
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\u201cInformation architecture\u2019s interest in structure runs wide and deep, and that is why it is hard to separate an environment\u2019s structural concerns from broad, strategic factors such as business objectives, user insights, and technology.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

An unbiased opinion brings a fresh perspective to the table and identifies issues that one wouldn\u2019t usually notice. A team of experts, without any bias, evaluate a list of factors including content strategy, technical writing, interaction design, space utilization and card sorting capability. Kevin Parker explains<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cIA improves findability. So much content is created but never found, which is a waste of time and resources. Better IA helps connect related content and surface it to the right customers at the right times\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

How Navigation Stress Tests work<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The primary function of any web page is to convey information. For this to happen, it becomes necessary to ask three fundamental questions regarding your page; that is:<\/p>\n