Card Sorting in UX Research
A designer’s main goal is to ensure users can find information in a system and navigate it without a hitch. The card sorting method is the perfect tool to build your product’s information architecture from scratch or to adjust the existing one to suit your users' expectations.
Card sorting is a fantastic low-cost and quick UX research method to help teams organize and prioritize content effectively. However, it's not a one-size-fits-all solution. You should explore the pros and cons of other methods to select the one that best fits your needs. We also recommend combining findings from different studies to improve user experience and create a functional and user-friendly product.
This technique helps teams understand how users perceive
The disadvantages of this technique include:
- Labels are used out of context. Users navigate interfaces relying on visual signs, and notecards with labels may not be enough to understand a website goal.
- The analysis takes time. The analysis of study findings can be time-consuming, especially if results are inconsistent.
- The findings may not go deep enough. Users may rely on categories differently when performing tasks. Thus, your analysis might only provide an overview of the problem without revealing the details.
Pro Tip! You can use card sorting methods to compare mental models between user groups and learn how they perceive your content.
Before collecting cards for your
Now, you can start listing groups for users to sort, group into categories, and
Avoid using cards with similar words or synonyms — it may confuse users, and they'll end up grouping these cards together.
Pro Tip! Make sure one card includes only one topic.
Once the topics are ready, shuffle the cards and ask participants to organize them into piles any way they want. Don't rush the participants and give them 15-20 minutes to complete sorting. If they haven't finished after 20 minutes, give them an extra 5 minutes.[3] Assure participants they can move cards around if they change their mind about where a card belongs.
If users aren't sure about a card or don't know what it means, let them place the card in the "uncategorized" or "unsure" category instead of randomly grouping cards.
Pro Tip! Don’t instruct participants to sort a precise number of cards into a pile. It's okay if some groups are larger or smaller than others.
A mental model is the explanation users have of how a system works or how they think it works. Ideally, users' mental models should be close to reality, as they make predictions and adjust their behavior based on their beliefs. According to Jakob's Law of Internet
Another dilemma is that each individual has a different mental model, and designers are no exception. Their mindset of how things should be in a system can radically contradict users' standpoints. Thus, a designer's prime goal is to create intuitive and valuable interfaces that meet users' expectations.
The
Once participants have finished
You may have ideas about names for categories, but it doesn't mean they will meet users' expectations. When interacting with a product, users tend to click straightforward, familiar
This doesn’t mean you should take the group names users suggest without a second thought. Use their ideas to experiment and come up with even better options.
Once users have finished
Some questions you may want to ask are:
- Which cards were the most difficult to categorize?
- Which cards might belong to several groups?
- Why have they left a few cards unsorted?
The debrief session may help you understand users' mental models and the rationale behind their decisions. Asking users to think aloud during the
Pro Tip! Avoid asking leading questions or judging their performance.
During the first
Analyzing is the most time-consuming part of the card testing process. When performing exploratory analysis, you receive a more general overview of the collected data and insights.
When looking for common patterns of card sorting or naming categories, ask yourself questions like:
- Which items often appear in the same group?
- Which categories often use the same name?
- Which items often stay uncategorized?
If you have a larger group of participants and are more interested in numbers, conduct a statistical analysis. You can fill out a spreadsheet and analyze data manually.[5] Otherwise, you can utilize an online application like Optimal Workshop or UserZoom.[6]
Pro Tip! If you’re redesigning your existing information architecture, compare the card sorting testing results to what you currently have.
When
Using an open card sort, you can:
- Learn users' mental models
- Understand how they search for information on a website
- Build new
information architecture in a way users expect
Open card sorts are notably helpful for evaluating how multiple user groups perceive your
A closed card sort allows you to:
- Evaluate the effectiveness of the existing labeling system
- Identify which categories are excessive, unclear, or misleading
- Rank and prioritize categories. For example, you can ask users to distribute menu actions on an email app (e.g., Reply, Forward, Archive, Delete, Mark as Read, Move to, etc.) in groups such as “Mandatory,” “Optional,” “Frequently used,” and “I never use it.”
During unmoderated
A moderated card sorting implies having a moderator — a person who facilitates the session. This method provides more insights because a moderator can ask participants questions like "Which item was the hardest to categorize?" or "Why do you think this card belongs to this group?" This method is more expensive and requires more planning.[7]
If you need to run a card sort with a large sample size, you can save your company's budget by mixing unmoderated and moderated methods. Run a few moderated studies to hear users' thoughts and conduct unmoderated studies with the rest to gain more statistical proof.
Paper
- The pros: It's much easier to experiment with physical cards, move them around, or start over the whole process.
- The cons: Researchers must manually create cards and record each participant's groups into a tool for analysis.
Digital card sorting implies using an online tool where the participants use digital cards and drag & drop them into categories.
- The pros: The software collects and analyzes all the data. Researchers can gain insights directly from these findings.
- The cons: Online tools are less flexible and require time to learn. Plus, technical or usability issues can confuse users and prevent them from creating new categories or moving cards between groups.
References
- Card Sorting: Uncover Users' Mental Models for Better Information Architecture | Nielsen Norman Group
- Card Sorting Tool & Template | Miro | https://miro.com/
- Card Sorting Tool & Template | Miro | https://miro.com/
- Jakob's Law of Internet User Experience (2 min. video) (Video) | Nielsen Norman Group