What is Findability?
Findability is the ease with which a specific piece of information or functionality can be located within an interface or information system, whether through navigation, search, or browsing.
How it works
Findability encompasses both navigability (finding things by following information architecture paths) and searchability (finding things by querying). It is determined by labeling quality, categorization logic, search algorithm effectiveness, and the information scent provided by links and navigation items. Findability is distinct from discoverability: discoverability is about encountering features you did not know existed, while findability is about locating something specific you already know you want. Tree testing and first-click testing are the primary methods for measuring findability.
Applied example
A government website tree test reveals that only 25% of users can find ‘how to renew a driver’s license’ using the current navigation. The label ‘Motor Vehicle Services’ is bureaucratic; users look for ‘Driver’s License.’ Relabeling the section doubles findability to 52%.
Why it matters
Findability is the bottleneck between content creation and content value: no matter how good the content is, it delivers zero value if users cannot find it when they need it.
