Card Sorting

Card sorting for information architecture, open vs closed sorts, and analyzing results.

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File contents

Card Sorting

Types

Type How When
Open Users group cards and name the groups Discovering how users categorize
Closed Users sort cards into pre-defined groups Validating existing categories
Hybrid Pre-defined groups + ability to create new ones Validating + discovering

Running a Card Sort

  1. Create cards (30-60 items, one concept per card)
  2. Recruit 15-30 participants
  3. In-person or online (tools: OptimalSort, Maze, UserZoom)
  4. Ask participants to group and label
  5. Analyze patterns

Analysis

  • Similarity matrix: how often items were grouped together
  • Dendrograms: hierarchical clustering visualization
  • Category labels: what names participants chose
  • Outliers: items nobody could categorize (rethink these)

Actionable Results

  • Items frequently grouped together → same section/category
  • Items placed in multiple groups → consider cross-referencing
  • Groups with consistent labels → use those labels
  • Ungroupable items → simplify, rename, or combine

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Frequently asked questions

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