Is a Tree or Autocomplete better UX for the below Scenario?
I am creating a web app (web app only, no mobile functionality) and am wondering if I should use a tree selection (where the user drills down through hierarchical categories until they find their selection) or an autocomplete (where the desired result is typed in and gets filtered based on what has been typed and then the result can be selected. More specifically Material Angular are the versions of each I would be using. The links for the description and functionality of each are below
Tree
https://material.angular.io/components/tree/overview#nested-tree
https://stackblitz.com/angular/eaalmyagbxpn?file=src%2Fapp%2Ftree-nested-overview-example.ts
Autocomplete
https://material.angular.io/components/autocomplete/overview#adding-a-custom-filter
https://stackblitz.com/angular/yoqybbxoegl?file=src%2Fapp%2Fautocomplete-filter-example.ts
The specifics of this widget are as follows:
The user can only choose 1 option.
Each individual user will be creating these options for their own account. So the selectable options the User 1 sees will be completely different from those that User 2 can see, since each user will create them specifically for their own needs.
I am confident that the number of options each user creates for themselves will be no less than 5 and no more that 50 the overwhelming majority of the time (there will not be restriction put in place either way but it would it would be rare for someone to go above or below these numbers).
They will probably use this function between 5 and 25 times a day
Please let me know what everyone thinks. Would a tree selection be a better UX experience or would an autocomplete be better?