Card SortingHelp people find what they’re looking for WORLD INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE DAY 2014

Mental Model

Mental models are deeply held internal imagesof how the world works, images that limit us tofamiliar ways of thinking and acting. Very often,we are not consciously aware of our mentalmodels or the effects they have on our behavior

Peter Senge

Acting As Mental Model

Problem!

Are these people finding what they came for?Yes or NoHow do we know?

Card Sortingo A card sort is a user-centered

design method for increasing a system’s find ability.

o The process involves sorting a series of cards, each labeled with a piece of content or functionality, into groups that make sense to users or participants.

With card sorting you can

• Build the structure for your website• Build the structure for your

navigation• Decide what to put on the pages• Label categories and navigation

When should we do itCard sorting is a user-centered, formative technique. It should be used as an input to:

o designing a new siteo designing a new area of a siteo redesigning a site

I’m pretty sure I know how to sort things in a way that will make scene to our site Visitor

No! you probably don’t

There are different ways to sort informationAnd the best way may not be you were thinking

Fruits?

Banana

Pineapple

Tomato

Broccoli

Carrots

Bell pepper

Apple

Peach

Vegetables ?

Avocado

Rhubarb

How Can We Do It?i. Decide what you want to learnii. Select the type of Card Sort (open vs. closed)iii. Choose Suitable Contentiv. Choose and invite participantsv. Conduct the sort (online or in-person)vi. Analyze Resultsvii. Integrate results

What are you wanting to learn?

o How do our users expect the information to be organized and categorized?

o What terminology and labels do they find confusing and what better terms can we use?

How Can We Do It?i. Decide what you want to learnii. Select the type of Card Sort (open vs.

closed)iii. Choose Suitable Contentiv. Choose and invite participantsv. Conduct the sort (online or in-person)vi. Analyze Resultsvii. Integrate results

Open Card Sorting / Close Card Sorting

DiscoverIn an open card sort, participants create their own names for the categories.

What is your Goal?

ValidationIn a closed card sort, participants are provided with a predetermined set of category names.

CHOOSE

METHODo Moderate

o Un moderate

How Can We Do It?i. Decide what you want to learnii. Select the type of Card Sort (open vs. closed)iii. Choose Suitable Contentiv. Choose and invite participantsv. Conduct the sort (online or in-person)vi. Analyze Resultsvii. Integrate results

It depends But:you do an audit of the key content that will be on your siteyou create a card for each sectionyou present the stack of cards to a participant and ask them to sort them into groups that are meaningful to them.

SELECTING CONTENTCards come from where?

How Can We Do It?i. Decide what you want to learnii. Select the type of Card Sort (open vs. closed)iii. Choose Suitable Contentiv. Choose and invite participantsv. Conduct the sort (online or in-person)vi. Analyze Resultsvii. Integrate results

o Who are your target audience?o How can you find them – Email? Social network?

Or …o Do they need to gifts for involvement?

Invite Participants

Sample of invitation o Dear <Name of customer contact>, o Session Description : <Name of company> is continually

focusing on user experience to ensure that …o What: This user experience research session will focus on

how an end-user would organize the navigation components on <Product Name> …

o Who: who should be participant in this session & their involvement gift is ….

o When: The session will take approximately 1.5 hours during December 4-19 (during one of the days)…

o Whereo How: Short explain about session

How Can We Do It?i. Decide what you want to learnii. Select the type of Card Sort (open vs. closed)iii. Choose Suitable Contentiv. Choose and invite participantsv. Conduct the sort (online or in-person)vi. Analyze Resultsvii. Integrate results

Online Card Sorting / Offline Card Sorting

More ParticipantsLess cementsUn Moderated

Less ParticipantsMore cementsCan be Moderated

What is your Goal?

Lead the face-to-face session

Why questions• Ask them, Why do they

think this or that?

Explain session clearly• There is no right or wrong

answers, we just want to know what you think

Minimize interruption• Encourage the

participants to think loud

How Can We Do It?i. Decide what you want to learnii. Select the type of Card Sort (open vs. closed)iii. Choose Suitable Contentiv. Choose and invite participantsv. Conduct the sort (online or in-person)vi. Analyze Resultsvii. Integrate results

Analyzingo Prepare your data for analysis ( you can find more

Box and arrow’s version | Rosenfeld media’s version)o Analyze qualitative information based on user

comments.o Analyze quantitative information o Pull together your findings in a report to share

with your team and stakeholders.

Look ato Open Card Sorting:

- What groups were created- Where the cards were placed- What terms were used for labels

o Close Card Sorting:- Users understand the categories & can find information- Content fits well in categories with not too much overlap- Category names match users mental models

Correlation

Similarity MatrixEach card is compared to each other card. The higher the number, the more similar the cards and displays the percentage that any one card was grouped with another card.

Want to learn more?• Interactiondesign.org• Usability.gov• Box and Arrows• Nielsen Norman Group• Optimal workshop

Thank You For Your

Attention

Any Question?

ASMA KAROOBIWIAD 2014 – IRAN

ir.linkedin.com/in/asmakaroobi