List your cards

Before listing cards for your card sorting session, run a content audit. This means going through your existing content and selecting the most relevant items to include. If you're working on a brand-new product, brainstorm everything you'd want users to navigate and build your list from there.

A good target is somewhere between 30 and 60 cards. You can start with a longer list and cut what isn't essential. Going beyond that range risks overwhelming participants, which affects both the quality of their decisions and the reliability of your data.

One thing to watch: avoid cards with similar words or synonyms. When two cards feel interchangeable, participants tend to group them together out of habit rather than genuine mental association, which muddies your results.^[1]