information architecture. card sorting

INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE.

CARD SORTING TECHNIQUEGrau en Enginyeria Informàtica

User Centred Desig

Index

• Introduction: the value of organized knowledge• Information design: Card Sorting

• The technique• Advantages and disadvantages• Tools

Information Architecture. Card Sorting - User Centred Design 2 / 41

The value of “organized knowledge”

?Information Architecture. Card Sorting - User Centred Design 3 / 41

Information overload (infobesity or infoxication)

• Difficulty for a person to have understanding and making decisions caused by the presence of too much information

• During last years a hug amount of information overloads people.

• In general, this is beneficial,• BUT, such amount of overload of information can have negative

effects.• We cannot solve the amount of information, we can help users

facilitating the finding of this information.


Possible Causes

• Information• Multiplicity: electronic news, email, databases, Web pages, stored

documents, social networks, ...• Incompatible formats

• Unawareness, ignorance of new tools• Altavista study: 80% couldn’t/wouldn’t build a working Boolean

search• Altavista study: 87% used less than 3 words

• POOR Schemes and Information Architectures• Users do not understand how information is structured• That information is available does not mean it is "achievable"

• “Out of sight, out of mind” [D. Norman]


Information Architecture (IA)

• IA is about helping people understand their surroundings and find what they're looking for —in the real world as well as online.

• Definition• The art and science of organizing and labeling web sites, intranets,

online communities and software to support usability and findability

Information Architecture. Card Sorting - User Centred Design

http://www.iainstitute.orghttp://www.iainstitute.org/documents/learn/What_is_IA.pdf

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http://www.iainstitute.org/

http://www.iainstitute.org/

http://www.iainstitute.org/documents/learn/What_is_IA.pdf


http://www.slideshare.net/StasKremnev/lana-voynova-crash-course-in-ux-design?next_slideshow=1

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http://cmsresources.windowsphone.com/devcenter/en-us/downloads/IA_sample.pdf

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The trunk test (for testing a IA)

• What site is this? (Site ID)• What page am I on? (Page name)• What are the major sections of this site? (Sections)• What are my options at this level? (Local navigation)• Where am I in the scheme of things? (“You are here”

indicators)• How can I search?


Top 3 IA Questions about Navigation Menus

1. How Many Categories Should We Have?• fundamental principle: the number of categories should be

determined by what makes it easiest for people to discover and access information — not by some preordained decision that “we should only have 4 categories”

2. Should Categories Be Listed in Alphabetical Order?• 3 key factors to consider:

• Is there another organizing principle that would be more meaningful?• Will visitors already know the exact category names?• How many categories are there?

3. Should Hover-Activated Menus Be Eliminated Since Touch Devices Don’t Allow Hovering?


by K. WHITENTON on January 4, 2015 http://goo.gl/dm4LFC

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http://goo.gl/dm4LFC



Some good references on IA(also in the virtual campus)

• http://semanticstudios.com/publications/semantics/000010.php

• http://prezi.com/aafmvya6bk7t/understanding-information-architecture/

• http://www.slideshare.net/petervandijck/everything-i-know-about-information-architecture-mostly-categorization-in-90-minutes

• http://www.uxabilidad.com/experiencia-de-usuario/arquitectura-de-la-informacion.html

• http://www.nngroup.com/articles/intranet-information-architecture-ia

• http://uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2014/02/adopting-a-professional-compass-for-information-architecture.php


http://semanticstudios.com/publications/semantics/000010.php

http://semanticstudios.com/publications/semantics/000010.php

http://prezi.com/aafmvya6bk7t/understanding-information-architecture/



http://www.uxabilidad.com/experiencia-de-usuario/arquitectura-de-la-informacion.html







http://www.nngroup.com/articles/intranet-information-architecture-ia/

http://www.nngroup.com/articles/intranet-information-architecture-ia/

http://uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2014/02/adopting-a-professional-compass-for-information-architecture.php



CARD SORTINGTraditionally, User-Centered Design techniques are used to develop the Information Architecture of websites. The typical one is Card Sorting, where users are given a set of cards labelled with the main topics of the site and they group these cards following their

own criteria


What is Card Sorting?

• Technical knowledge acquisition based on a constructivist approach that serves to:• Understanding how users envision the organization of

information• Explore how the concepts are grouped by people• Understanding users' mental model

• provides concrete data that can be instantiated

• Moreover, is:• Cheep, quick, involves users, democratic, …


Benefits

• Why sort?• To better understand a problem and users’ view of it• Source of concepts, terminology and organisation

• How is it done?• Participants given objects, photos, cards or similar and are asked to

group them

• What are the results?• Qualitative: concepts, terminology, understanding• Quantitative: how frequently items are grouped together; how

groupings compare with a reference set

• What methods can be used?• Face-to-face: ‘in-depth’ individuals sessions, pair sorting, with

observer, larger sessions with emphasis feedback• Online: much larger sample sizes possible, using images or words

(little qualitative information though)Information Architecture. Card Sorting - User Centred Design 15 / 41

Card Sorting in UCD

• CS has wide application in UCD answering questions such as:• How do users think about this problem?• What words do they use?• Are menu items or form fields grouped the way users expect?• Is there anything we’ve forgotten?

• Paper-based sorting in particular can be very helpful• No technological barriers• Participants can write comments on cards, change terms, create

new items or groups (good qualitative results)• Cards can appear in more than one group


Method

1. Determine the list of topics (content)

2. Create cards

3. Selecting participants

4. Make the sorting sessions

5. Analyse the results


1. Determine the list of topics

• Each topic should be neither too generic or too specific. It must represent a piece of content or functionality that needs to be organized.

• The sample card to order should be "manageable"• Avoid

• giving "clues" that lead users to organize topics in a (pre) defined.• topics that include "grouping terms" (File, Edit, FAQs, ...)

• And, (perhaps) the most important• The topics should be meaningful to the participants


Fruits

GrapesLemons

Apples

Vegetables

Oranges

Potatoes

Carrots

Tomatoes

Grapes

Fruits Vegetables

Lemons

Apples

Oranges

Potatoes

Tomatoes

Carrots


Be aware of !!

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2. Create the cards

• Materials Needed• Paper cards, cardboard, Post-it, ...• A notebook for notes• Pencil and rubber• A large surface to spread the cards

• Each topic is written on a card• On certain occasions it is necessary a small description• Must be "readable"

• We must have empty cards • users can need to create groups• …


3. Select participants

• Aim to have participants representing all possible potential users• NOT your fellow designers, friends, relatives, …• be sure that the participants are familiar with the vocabulary

of the cards

• 15 to 20 participants should be successful

• Perform separate card sorting sessions for different groups



• Explain the process• A written explanation ensures that

everyone has the same level of understanding

• Types• Open Card Sorting

• Sorting without pre-established groups• Useful for new architectures

• Closed Card Sorting• Predefined groups• For existing architectures



• Practical recommendations for participants

• READ ALL labels before sorting• Awareness of the range of items to sort

• Arrange the cards using a common approach and according to its own principles

• Allow a “I’m not sure" group• Explain only when needed (not at the beginning)

• In an open card sorting session participants should label the groups in their own way



• The UX expert• Watch and listen• Do NOT GUIDE the participants• Take note of anything that may be of

importance• questioning• comments• Suggestions• …


Sorting Nº 1

Date 20/09/13

User Maite

Criteria Flavour

Groups Sweet: 1,4,8

Bitter: 3,5

Salty: 6,7,2

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http://uxpunk.com/websort http://www.conceptcodify.com http://www.userzoom.es/articles/online-card-sorting-what-how-why

http://www.usabilitest.com/CardSorting

http://www.usabilitest.com/CardSorting http://www.simplecardsort.com

https://sites.google.com/a/uxsort.com/uxsort

http://sourceforge.net/projects/cardsword

http://www.optimalworkshop.com

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http://uxpunk.com/websort

http://www.conceptcodify.com/

http://www.conceptcodify.com/

http://www.userzoom.es/articles/online-card-sorting-what-how-why








http://www.simplecardsort.com/

http://www.simplecardsort.com/







http://www.optimalworkshop.com/

http://www.optimalworkshop.com/


• CardSortingGRIHO.jar + Analitzador_Clusters(GRIHO).jar• Based on: http://www.cardzort.com/cardzort/download.php


• CardSortingGRIHO.jar• Manage cards: create, modify,

save, print cards• Run individual card sorting

sessions

• Analitzador_Clusters(GRIHO).jar• Analyse the results• Provide dendogram

http://www.cardzort.com/cardzort/download.php

RUN a sorting

exercise

CardSortingGRIHO.jar



NAME of the user who is doing the sorting

Step 1: sorting the cards


Step 2: giving names to the groups


Analitzador_Clusters(GRIHO).jar

• Cluster analysis with data obtained from CardSortingGRIHO.jar

• Cluster Analysis• Algorithms based on similarity measures• Exploratory method that identifies homogeneous groups of objects

(clusters)• Many choices on the nature of the algorithm for combining groups

(based on similarity)


How we measure the similarity between two cards?


• Suppose we analyse the card sorting for a user u• The distance between a pair of cards i and j is defined as:

du(i,j) = 0 when i and j are grouped du(i,j) = 1 otherwise du(i,j) = du(j,i)

• And for N users final distance between i and j is defined as

N

jidjiD

N

uu

1

),(),(

34 / 41

Distances matrix

1 2 3 4 5

1 X

2 0 X

3 0 0 X

4 1 1 1 X

5 1 1 1 0 X

1 2 3 4 5

1 X

2 0 X

3 1 1 X

4 0 0 1 X

5 1 1 0 1 X

1 2 3 4 5

1 X

2 0 X

3 0 0 X

4 0 0 0 X

5 1 1 1 1 X

1 2 3 4 5

1 X

2 0 X

3 0.340.34 X

4 0.340.340.66 X

5 1.0 1.0 0.660.66 X

+

=3

User 1 User 2 User 3

+

[1,2,3], [4,5] [1,2,4], [3,5] [1,2,3,4], [5]

24

3

5

1


Items 1 and 2 were together in all exercises.

Items 1 and 5 did not appear together in any exercise

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Obtaining the Clusters

1: One of the pairs with minor distance is the cluster

1 2 3 4 5

1 X

2 0 X

3 0.34 0.34 X

4 0.34 0.340.66 X

5 1.0 1.0 0.66 0.66 X

2: The cluster becomes a single entity

(1,2) 3 4 5

(1,2) X

3 ? X

4 ? 0.66 X

5 ? 0.66 0.66 X

3: repeat this process: D[(1,2),3] = AVG{d(1,3), d(2,3)}


Analitzador_Clusters(GRIHO).jar

• Perform cluster analysis on data obtained with CardSortingGRIHO.jar

• Visualization of the user preferences for labelling clusters

• The distance reflects the number of matches between people who have done the exercise• How many users have put a couple of cards together?• A greater number of people who have joined a pair of cards shorter

the distance between them.



Managing card sorting

exercises from users

Card sorting exercise

corresponding to selected participant


distance

Suggested groups &

their labels

participants

Analitzador_Clusters(GRIHO).jarNombres de los grupos

• With the resutls the UX professional can:• Decide the most appropriate Information Architecture• Naming the groups

• … from users’ point of view (mental model)!!


References

• Jakob Nelsen’s Web: http://www.nngroup.com/articles/card-sorting-how-many-users-to-test

• The Encyclopedia of Human-Computer Interaction: http://www.interaction-design.org/encyclopedia/card_sorting.html

• Usability.gov: http://www.usability.gov/methods/design_site/cardsort.html

• Blog “No Solo Usabilidad”: http://www.nosolousabilidad.com/articulos/cardsorting.htm

• Kelly, G.A. (1955). The Psychology of Personal Constructs. New York: W.W. Norton.

• Lamantia, J. (2003). Analyzing Card Sort Results with a Spreadsheet Template. Boxes and Arrows.

• Maurer, D. (2003). Card-Based Classification Evaluation. Boxes and Arrows.Information Architecture. Card Sorting - User Centred Design 41 / 41

http://www.nngroup.com/articles/card-sorting-how-many-users-to-test

http://www.nngroup.com/articles/card-sorting-how-many-users-to-test

http://www.interaction-design.org/encyclopedia/card_sorting.html

http://www.usability.gov/methods/design_site/cardsort.html

http://www.nosolousabilidad.com/articulos/cardsorting.htm

information architecture. card sorting

Design

overload of information

access information

information architecture

information overloads

number of categories

ia questions

navigation menus

site id