When the Right Label Still Sends Users the Wrong Way

The challenge

The product team wanted to validate a new information architecture for the iFIT platform, but early conversations revealed a deeper concern. During intake I noted the team expressed long-standing issues with confusing, jargon-heavy menu labels. Before testing the structure itself, we asked a more fundamental question: Were users struggling to find content because of the architecture, the language, or both?

Approach

Working alongside two researchers and a UX copywriter, I helped develop clearer menu labels before conducting a multi-level card sort and tree test. We then conducted unmoderated testing using both card sort tasks and survey items to understand not just where users looked, but how they interpreted the language itself.

Key insights

• Confusing terminology was masking information architecture issues, making language an essential part of the navigation experience rather than a separate consideration.
➥ Simplifying menu labels improved users' ability to find key features and complete tasks.

• Even preferred terminology has limits. For example, while participants consistently favored the label "Machine" for workout equipment such as ellipticals or treadmills, they were unable to locate machine-specific settings under the same title. This demonstrated that effective navigation depends on context and expectation as much as word choice.

Impact

The findings informed a broader redesign of the platform's information architecture across mobile, embedded, and TV experiences. More importantly, the project reinforced that successful navigation depends on the relationship between language, context, and expectation, not simply choosing the "right" word.