Install the app
Usability card sorting. It is the first in a series of articles about card sorting.
Usability card sorting. May 20, 2023 · Unlock the secrets of seamless user experience through card sorting usability testing. The results of Card Sorting flow directly into the work of developers and web designers. With card sorting, we ensure that the navigation of an application is user-friendly and contains only terms that are understood by the target audiences. In this book, Donna describes how to plan and run a card sort, then analyse the results and apply the outcomes to your project. Feb 17, 2022 · So the standard card sorting for category buckets and information placed in them doesn't work as the information is very repetitive and changes meaning with the context of the module. Card-Sorting hilft, die perfekte Informationsstruktur zu finden. The person conducting the test (usability analyst, user experience designer, etc. If you want to understand how your users process and categorize information, card sorting is the method to use. Dec 21, 2015 · Open or closed card sorting is the popular ones, but there is another interesting technique that put less mental load on participants, the Delphi method: In this approach, the first participant creates an initial sort, and then the remaining participants review and modify that sort. Mar 30, 2019 · However, when using card sorting along with other UX methods such as usability testing it can help you to find out some functional info about users to get new projects up and running. Learn more » When developing hierarchies for information-rich Web sites, designers and usability researchers often turn to card sorting for help in making design decisions. Card sorting has many applications—from figuring out how content should be grouped on a website or in an app to deciding how to arrange items in a retail store. Capture how users group content & identify naming patterns. Both offer unique approaches to understanding how users interact and find information on a website or application. ” – Usability. Card sorting is sometimes used Nov 1, 2008 · How Can You Do a Card-sorting Study with LOTS of Cards? Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Usability Professionals Association, June 24-July 1, Montreal, QB, Canada. Understand how this essential technique helps create intuitive information architectures that match user expectations. Types of Card Sorting There are three types of card sorts: open card sorts, closed card sorts, and hybrid card sorts. Card Sorting A/B Testing: Even just the ability to do A/B testing is essential for today's Product Managers, and you'll frequently find that job listings specify this. It determines the optimal grouping of content from the user’s point of view and thus supports the user-centered development of information architectures. Learn how to run a Card Sorting workshop exercise. In a closed card sort, the researchers decide in advance what the Card Sorting is a technique to help structure and categorize your content. Usability testing can show if the information architecture from card sorting works well for real tasks. Researchers focused on the set up and analysis of Abstract This study reports on the usability of three commercially available electronic card sort applications (CardZort, WebSort, and OpenSort) by researchers (Study 1) and by end users (Study 2). gov. It helps in designing clear and effective information architecture. But is it really so simple? This definitive guide to card sorting includes detailed instructions on how to execute and analyze a sort, plus helpful hints to improve your sorts. The card sorting method is used to generate information about the associations and grouping of specific data items. The participants are then asked to categorize the items in a way that represents their best organization for the Web site. By interviewing users about problems of the DL, eight tasks were predefined and users’ problems in the path were identified. Jun 17, 2025 · Discover the power of card sorting in user research and learn how to apply it to improve your product's user experience and information architecture Jan 14, 2020 · Find out how card sorting can help you make your website more intuitive to users and discover some of the best card sorting tools on the internet. t its core, card sorting is a pretty simple technique—write things on index cards (or the software equivalent) and ask people to sort the cards into groups. How to Define Your Target Audience for Card Sorting? Identify specific demographics first. Card sorting is a technique in user experience design in which a person tests a group of subject experts or users to generate a dendrogram (category tree) or folksonomy. Card sorting is a method used to help design or evaluate the information architecture of a site. May 18, 2017 · Card sorting was traditionally used for assessing information architecture. But as is the case with most simple things, there is plenty of room for complexity. History and Assumptions Card sorting was originally developed by psychologists as a method to the study of how people organize and categorize their knowledge. Online card sorting is a quick and simple way of evaluating your information architecture, workflow, menu structure or user navigation journeys. The person conducting the test (usability analyst, user Learn what are the benefits, types, steps, tools, and challenges of card sorting, a usability testing method that helps you design or improve your information architecture. Card sorting provides a means for your users to organize information presented in your website, helping to Jun 1, 2004 · A study was conducted to assess the minimum number of participants needed for a card-sorting study. Jan 12, 2024 · According to NN Group , card sorting is ‘’a UX research technique in which users organize topics into groups’’. Implement iterative rounds of card sorting with evolving card sets to refine categories and assess their relevance over time. It’s crucial to select the right tool for your card sort. Card Sorting Card sorting is a useful tool to determine how users categorize the information that will appear on a website. This comprehensive guide explores open and closed card sorting techniques, their benefits for information architecture, and how to conduct effective card sorting sessions. Jan 6, 2022 · Have you ever wanted to conduct a card sort or tree test, but didn’t have the tools? Learn how we conducted a card sort using GitHub and a tree test using a clickable prototype to improve the information architecture for onrr. You have a complex scenario for sure, but remember you don't need to have a card for each and every item. Learn how you can use card sorting within UX research with this step-by-step guide to running a card sorting session, from selecting your method to identifying participants and analyzing the results. Card sorting is a great method for websites that require a lot of categories and subcategories, like ecommerces, educational sites or news services. As the name implies, the method originally consisted of researchers writing labels representing concepts (either abstract or concrete) on cards, and then asking participants to sort (categorize) the cards into piles Card sorting uses a relatively low-tech approach. A good UX design gains popularity because of its visual appeal and how easily users can find what they’re looking for. 這篇文章主題為：Card Sorting（卡片分類法）與 Navigation（導航），內容承接之前所寫的文章，建議可以由第一篇開始閱讀，較能了解 UX 的全貌。UX Design Process & User Research, Competitive Analysis & Persona Apr 22, 2025 · About Card sorting Card sorting is a research methodology that can help you discover how people understand and categorize information. It addresses methods of interpreting cluster analysis data matrixes and dendrograms generated by automated card sorting tools. Card sorting is a great way to become familiar with information architecture and user-centred design. Refine your website’s information architecture with UXArmy’s card sorting tool. This can provide insight into how people group and label content and information in their minds. Dec 5, 2022 · Design/methodology/approach This applied study used an exploratory mixed method, card sorting. Oct 21, 2024 · Sort yourself out with this comprehensive list of card sorting tools, from free online apps to robust user research platforms. When I do mixed card sorting, participants can “edit” the pre-written information. As a usability testing method, card sortingis easy to set up, simple to recruit for and can supply you with a range of useful insights. UX research methods help teams understand user behavior, needs, and motivation so they can build better products. In this process, cards are named and sorted, for example, by users of a software program or experts of an application. These methods What is Card Sorting User Testing? Card sorting is a usability testing method where participants organize topics into categories that make sense to them. For user testing, card sorting is a simple method of organizing any data. It helps designers and information architects create user-friendly navigation structures by understanding how users group and label information. Unser Card Sorting dient dazu das mentale Modell der Zielgruppe zu verstehen und in die Konzeption von Informationsarchitektur und Navigationsstruktur einfließen zu lassen. And, it focuses on the details of making a decision about final categories and category labels. Jul 9, 2023 · Open card sorting has been also criticized as an inherently content-centric technique that may lead to unusable IAs when users are attempting tasks. Find out what they are, how to choose the best tools and methods, and some tips and best practices. Card sorting Card sorting is a very useful tool when it comes to organizing websites and finding out how your users view the information space. Figuring out why you would bother to do this in the first place; deciding what to put on the cards; guiding people through the activity so you get May 3, 2024 · Card sorting is a versatile UX technique for generating new content, validating ideas, and enhancing Information Architecture inexpensively and effectively. gov This second template was created by Usability. It implies giving respondents a set of cards and asking them to sort them in an intuitive way. 4 card sorting examples Explore our card sorting examples to improve your website's information architecture. This means there might not be a card to sort for every page on the Apr 25, 2025 · When it comes to usability testing, card sorting and tree testing are powerful on their own. In addition, it is useful to combine the results of card sorting sessions with other research methods, such as tree testing and/or usability testing. For a website, users would be given cards with the names of the web pages on the site and asked to group the cards into related categories. You can check out more tips on my card sorting tips and tricks page. Researchers focused on the set up and analysis of an open card sort exercise while end user . Participants in a card sort are asked to organize individual, unsorted items into groups and may, depending on the technique, also provide labels for these groups. Online card sorting is a usability tool that helps categorise your webpages by identifying how visitors would expect to find content or functionality. Oct 20, 2014 · When planning your IA, involve users of your website in the process as soon as you can. In tree testing, users must find a specific item in a category tree. Oct 22, 2024 · Understand the differences between open and closed card sorting. card sorting a technique for uncovering the hierarchical structure in a set of concepts by having users group items written on a set of cards, often used, for instance, to work out the organization of a website. Mar 27, 2020 · Card sorting is a way of testing the usability of your information architecture. Discover complementary methods like tree testing for optimal UX design. However, most tools in this study are no longer maintained or have significantly changed and new tools, such as the open source CardSorter [14], have also appeared. A website’s top usability problem is that content is structured based on what makes sense to the company and not the end-users. Feb 23, 2024 · Card sorting requires participants to organize invidually labeled cards into groups according to criteria that make the most sense to them. Usability Methods Card Sorting Card sorting is a useful tool to determine how users categorize the information that will appear on a website. Conduct tree Nov 25, 2024 · 5 types of card sorting Card sorting usability tests differ based on how much information participants have when completing them. We evaluated Paytm's interface (as of 2021) to check if the current categorization matches users' mental models and if they appear in the same sequence as expected by users. Card Sorting: Designing Usable Categories - Kindle edition by Spencer, Donna. Sep 14, 2022 · There is more than one way to test your IA. In a card sorting session, participants organize a given set of topics into categories that make sense to them, and the resulting categories are analyzed for common themes and patterns. By understanding users’ categorization of information, teams can create a predictable and easy UI for users to navigate. The results can be expressed in a number of ways, with the primary focus being which items were May 19, 2025 · Use these steps to create a card sorting test with UserTesting. g. Jan 9, 2024 · Learn how to recruit and screen participants for card sorting, a usability method that helps you design a user-friendly navigation and information architecture. Jul 25, 2024 · Open card sorting allows participants to freely group and categorize items based on their own understanding, which offers invaluable insights into how users naturally structure information. Typically, UX researchers conduct card sorts, or card sorting sessions, by writing topics on individual cards, asking users to sort related topics into groups, and then asking users to name or categorize each group. Feb 2, 2024 · Card sorting is a research method in which study participants place individually labeled cards into groups according to criteria that make the most sense to them. The proposed method involves two phases. There are traditionally two types of card sort exercises used: open Nov 26, 2024 · Usability refers to the measurement of how easily a user can accomplish their goals when using a service. Card Sorting is a method of usability optimization that makes it possible to improve the navigation on a website already during the conception phase of a website. The goal is to help users find information and complete tasks. Learn how to use card sorting, a usability testing method, to discover how your users think about your website or app content and features, and design a user-friendly user experience. Each requires advance preparation of cards showing candidate terms to be arranged in a way that makes sense to each tester. Test subjects, individually or sometimes as a group, then arrange the cards to represent how they see the structure and relationships of the information. UX card sorting is focused specifically on organizing the content of your digital product, for example a website or an app. We’ll also go over the pros and cons of using card sorting and explain how to conduct a card sort for your design projects. Oct 1, 2023 · The realm of user experience (UX) design continually prioritizes intuitive interfaces and seamless interactions. Card sorting is an invaluable tool in deciding site structure and visual hierarchy. You need a tool which is easy to set up, intuitive to use, and offers robust card sorting analytics. Oct 11, 2018 · Card sorting should be mixed with other UX research techniques like interviews and usability testing to be really powerful. This in-depth guide explains the benefits, tools, and tips for success. Also, two different testing approaches: moderated or unmoderated. It is a type of test that helps design teams decide how to structure the information architecture of a Card sorting is a UX research method where participants organize topics into categories that make sense to them. There are 11 core UX research methods, each suited to different stages, goals, and questions. During a card sorting test, the participants are asked to organize content into categories in a way that makes sense to them. Mar 23, 2025 · To add to this definition card sorting is a usability testing method to assess the way that information and content are organized within a system. If you’re not familiar with card sorting at all, especially in the context of usability testing, you can read this introductory guide on Six Revisions: Usability Testing with Card Sorting. Two standout methodologies in usability evaluation are Tree Testing and Card Sorting. See card sorting videos. May 4, 2025 · Check out these 10 top card sorting tools to organize content smarter, improve navigation, and enhance user experience. Intellavia demonstrates an economical path to user interface design—card sorting. Card sorting is a qualitative user research method where participants categorize content and label the groups using index cards, physically or digitally. Armed with this knowledge, we can group information so that people can better find and understand it. A two-part study investigating the first-time usage of three electronic card sort programs for an open card sort was conducted. It has a proven track record of helping user experience designers and developers understand how users make sense of their web content. the links from a primary navigation menu, for Discover how people group and label ideas and information. This guide covers card sorting, usability methodology for getting info about how to organize content, as well as a how-to, case examples and tools. In this test, users are given cards indicating pages of the website and asked to organize them in a way that makes sense to them. Apr 18, 2025 · What is card sorting? Card sorting is a research method in which participants group topics together in a way that makes sense to them. Aug 14, 2025 · Closed Card Sorting: A closed card sort typically works best when researchers are working with a pre-defined set of categories and you want to learn how users sort content items into each category. This makes it a versatile choice for gathering both quantitative and qualitative data, ensuring that your team can make informed, data-driven decisions. Amid the diverse methods available, card sorting stands out as a notable technique, significantly enhancing usability and fostering user-centric designs. May 20, 2025 · This article explains when to use card sorts and tree tests and how to best leverage them in your studies. May 4, 2024 · Card sorting is a simple user research technique. Including a real-world example. Feb 22, 2024 · 10 Best FREE Card Sorting Tools If you are thinking about what card sorting software to choose, take a few notes in mind. Elements of the website are represented by cards and the participants are asked to group the cards wth other cards that they would expect to find together. May 27, 2016 · Read this deep-dive into Card Sorting and how it helps you to secure a well-organised and structured website with great UX. Card-Sorting What We Test Card sorting is a usability technique that asks the intended audiences of a site to categorize the content of the site based off of their own personal preferences. Card sorting is a qualitative user experience design technique where an individual tests a group of users to generate category trees and other classification systems. Aug 6, 2023 · Many newcomers to information architecture often misunderstand the purpose of card sorting, and use it inappropriately, instead of a tree test. May 1, 2013 · This article presents a set of best practices for analyzing card sorting data to derive an effective information architecture and navigation structure. I build web Feb 23, 2024 · Card Sorting Examples and Exercises In order for you to better understand the card sorting method, let’s take a look at some of the card sorting examples and case studies. Write out different features of your product or site, and people will sort them into groups. Poor information architecture is the silent killer of digital products—users can't find what they need, abandon tasks, and blame your product for being "confusing" or "hard to use. We also have videos and webinar recordings available for downloaded to be viewed in place. It is a well-liked and reasonably priced method for figuring out customer preferences and designing efficient information architecture. [1] UXArmy is a cloud-based user research platform offering a comprehensive set of tools for remote usability testing, card sorting, and tree testing. There are two types of card sorting, which measure different aspects of users' mental models for information architecture. Conclusion on Card Sorting Card sorting is a key technique for User Experience professionals. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Quick video guide on 3 popular UX research tools: usability testing, card sorting & heuristic review. What is Card Sorting? Card sorting is a user-centered design method used to enhance the usability of information architecture. Syntagm > Design for Usability > Card Sorting | Introduction Card Sorting – Introduction Note that if you want someone to conduct IA or card-sort-based research and design, visit our Information Architecture page. It's designed to help UX professionals gather actionable insights quickly and accurately to improve user experience design. Card sorting guide In this guide, you'll learn how to use card sorting, a valuable technique in information architecture, to organize your website or app content effectively and improve user experience. Jan 22, 2025 · Card sorting serves as a hands-on tool for understanding the user's mental model, directly informing the development of a website's or application's information architecture by revealing how users naturally group and categorize content. It’s a great way to become familiar with concepts such as information architecture and user-centred design. What is card sorting? Card sorting is a very useful usability test, a user-centered technique for organizing categories. It is the first in a series of articles about card sorting. What is card sorting exercise? Card Sorting exercise is a simple user research activity used for evaluating the information architecture of your digital products. Similarity matrices and tree structures from various sample sizes were compared to those based Card sorting is an effective usability testing technique that helps enhance user experience by organizing content in a way that makes sense to users. Discover how to best structure your website or app with a card sorting tool. In short, it helps What is card sorting in UX? Card sorting is a popular research technique that allows participants to organize information into categories that they deem relevant, useful, or important. To add to this definition card sorting is a usability testing method to Ask people to group cards into categories, and use the results to guide your information architecture design. Jan 1, 2009 · Card sorting helps us understand how people think about content and categories. Enhanced Usability: An online retailer used card sorting to reorganize its product categories. Jan 17, 2024 · Discover the essentials of card sorting in UX design and learn how it reveals user mental models and preferences with our comprehensive guide. Card sorting is a great method to use after you’ve run a usability test or tree-test and identified the navigation as a key pain point. Card sorting can be categorized or uncategorized. Learn about the key methods, innovative tools, and pros and cons for effective user experience design. In a card sorting study, participants sort topics like pages, categories, or pieces of content into related groups. Use Card Sorting to discover what users think about content of your website. Here's how to do card sorting. gov CARD SORTING TOOLS comparison In this article, Card Sorting: Your Complete Guide To Better Design And Information Architecture, we will be talking about how card sorting works, why is it important as part of our UX research, how it can help in improving your UX research and website usability, and what are the different methods of card sorting. Nov 29, 2024 · Discover the best card sorting tools of 2025 for designing intuitive UX. Aug 30, 2024 · Discover the power of card sorting in UX design. Topics can be phrases or words, very specific or more general. May 22, 2025 · Card sorting is a method of determining the optimum organization--the Information Architecture (IA)--of a website. Both groups of participants conducted a series of tasks representative of their user group with each program. Oct 1, 2019 · Based on these data, we recommend the use of the modified card sorting interaction design method to evaluate the usability of applications for blind users, because this method allows reliably defining how to select and order the menu items in an intuitive and friendly way that is specific for this type of users. In a card sorting session, participants organize topics into categories that make sense to them, and they may also help you label these groups. Mar 20, 2025 · Discover the importance of sorting cards in UX design and how it enhances information organization for better user experiences. Syntagm > Design for Usability > Card Sorting | Software & Other Downloads Card Sorting – Software & Other Downloads SynCaps V3 now free! This page has the downloads you need you need to start printing and processing card sorts. Unlike classic guides, this one is written for people living in 2018, when there's the Internet, online tools, and online recruiting. Card sorting offers a systematic and statistically significant process for answering questions about hierarchy design. Study 1 examined the usability of the applications from the researcher perspective, and Study 2 examined the usability Jul 23, 2010 · Card sorting is a simple usability test that directs a group of users to classify website content and information for interface design purposes. Card sorting is one of the primary ways to sort out the navigation scheme or structure of an app, website, or prototype that best matches the Abstract This study reports on the usability of three commercially available electronic card sort applications (CardZort, WebSort, and OpenSort) by researchers (Study 1) and by end users (Study 2). Refine your website information architecture with Dscout's flexible card sorting UX research tools. In an open card sorting exercise, users are asked to cluster the cards based on affinities, and assign the name they want to each of the groups. Apr 5, 2025 · Usability Testing: After card sorting has helped define categories, usability testing can validate these categories with real users. Jun 24, 2025 · For instance, start with open sorting to glean user perceptions, then transition to closed sorting to refine and validate specific categories. Sep 11, 2023 · List of Card Sorting Tools for surveying the Information Architecture (IA) of a website. Aug 30, 2024 · Learn the differences, advantages, and disadvantages of open and closed card sorting methods and how to conduct a successful card sorting exercise for your website usability. Card sorting study is based on giving participants a set of cards and asking them to categorize the cards in a way that makes sense to them. There are not many online card sorting tools where you can just share a link and gather data from your target audience. Dec 15, 2021 · Five users are enough for most usability testing so why do we need three times as many users to reach a similar level of insights for card sorting? Usability testing is an evaluation method. The purpose of this study was to examine the usability of electronic card sorting programs from the perspective of the researcher and the end-user. Oct 27, 2024 · 14 Must-Know Usability Testing Methods To Perfect Your UX This article covers various usability testing methods, including moderated and unmoderated testing, as well as specialized techniques like card sorting, A/B testing, and more. Apr 17, 2024 · Card sorting is a technique where users are asked to organize information into logical groups. This post is a primer — it gives you the essential information you need to get started and see valuable results. Jun 2, 2025 · Discover the 11 best card sorting tools, their key features, pricing options, and how to use them to elevate the structure of your website. You give users blank cards (open card sorting) or cards labeled with the names and short descriptions of the main items/sections of the product (closed card sorting), then ask them to sort the cards into piles according to which items seem to go best together. Jun 29, 2009 · Review by Matthew Sanders Donna Spencer’s debut Card Sorting: Designing Usable Categories (Amazon US) distills several years experience applying card sorting techniques to web projects into a highly practical guide on card sorting. The purpose of the card-sorting study was to determine how to organize the information for a redesign of the Intranet web site of our usability department. To address the vexing problem of card sort data analysis, a group of User Experience (UX) practitioners convened at the 2011 Usability Professionals’ Association conference in Atlanta to address and formulate a set of best practices for analyzing card sort data. Apr 13, 2025 · Master UX with tree testing and card sorting. As a suggestion, limit yourself to 50-60 topics or less. In card-sorting, users are given a list of representative content items to group and label as they see fit. Oct 7, 2023 · A breakdown of the main usability testing methods (including lab testing, session replays, card sorting) and when/why you should use them. Available in PNG and SVG formats. It allows us to validate the information architecture of our website or app with real users. Use card sorting to categorize information and tree testing to validate the structure's usability Jun 5, 2020 · Card sorting is an easy and reliable method to get valuable insights about how your web content should be organized in order to meet the expectations of your target group. Otherwise, read below about obtaining and using our tools yourself. Essentially, you present participants with a set of cards, each representing a piece of content or functionality, and ask them to group these cards in a way that makes sense to them. By presenting users with cards that represent different content pieces or concepts, designers can gather insights about how users categorize and prioritize information. What is card sorting? Card sorting is a research method used to assist with content organization and labeling. Please help us to maintain and develop SynCaps by making a donation. Tree testing requires participants to navigate a simplified text-based outline of the content structure. This platform is more focused on tasks and where the user can find the action that can help him complete his task. Traditionally, card sorting was a facilitated in-person activity but now card sorting is commonly conducted using online tools that reduce geographic limitations, time commitment, and facilitate Card sorting is a usability research technique used to organize and categorize information in a way that is easily understandable and accessible. You can conduct all the following tests in one of two ways: In-person — A moderator gives participants physical index cards and asks them to lay out the structure they suggest on a table or whiteboard. It also highlights the benefits, disadvantages, and practical tips for successful usability testing. Researchers focused on the set up and analysis of Sep 10, 2023 · See also: card sorting Unmoderated Usability Testing A type of usability testing in which there is no facilitator (moderator) and in which the tasks are presented to the participant by special software. Other times, the participants will come up with the navigation label themselves (open card 7 Card sorting examples to inform your UX research Before you get started on your own card sorting study, it’s useful to see how others have used card sorting in their UX research—and how they conducted the sessions. In this chapter, we’ll take a look at seven real-life examples of card sorting, covering different methods and approaches. tools what is it Card sorting helps uncover user’s mental models for better information architecture, and understand how to organize information in a way so that other people can find it. Learn what are the benefits, types, steps, tools, and challenges of card sorting, a usability testing method that helps you design or improve your information architecture. This article applies to: UserTesting Card sorts can be set up for desktop and mobile tests and are available with these plans Explore card sorting, a key UX design technique to organize information intuitively. Usability of card sorting tools has been also examined [13]. For example, if users consistently struggle to find a category during testing, it may indicate a need to revisit the card sorting results. Tips include how to deal with dual group membership, individual differences, effects of semantic clustering May 8, 2023 · The usability of computerized card sorting: A comparision of three applications by researchers and end users, Journal of Usability Studies, Volume 4, 1, 31–48, 2008. Card sorting enables users to group items based on categories they define, creating Learn how to use different tools and techniques to analyze and interpret the results of card sorting, a user research method for improving usability and navigation. Card sorting report template by Usability. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Card Sorting: Designing Usable Categories. In Card Sorting: Designing Usable Categories, Donna Spencer shows you how to plan and run a card sort, analyze the results, and apply the outcomes to your projects. By asking your users to sort cards that The usability of a digital design is a fundamental component to ensure a positive user experience. In a card sorting session, participants organize topics into groups. Unfortunately, a Download this scheme, usability, card sorting icon in solid style from the Business & management category. Card sorting is a commonly used technique to extract mental models from users in computer science, especially in the field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) to structure and arrange the functionality or content of interactive systems. This process helps you uncover patterns in how users think about information architecture, allowing you to design a navigation system that aligns with their mental models. Occasionally, those groups are prelabeled (closed card sort). Card Sorting Via Remote (Online) User Testing For this article, I’m specifically talking about remote user testing. Card sorting uses a relatively low-tech approach. A great way to evaluate the success level of your card sorting is to vonduct a usability testing study and see if users are able to find their way around your content. While UX encompasses designing the overall experience of a Aug 16, 2024 · Card Sorting – The Complete Guide In this guide we’ll explain how you can use the card sorting UX research technique to organize the content of your website or app. Compare open, closed & hybrid tools reviews, pricing, free vs paid plans, and tips to choose the right card-sorting software for your project. This, however, will Jun 21, 2020 · When it comes to designing and testing in the world of information architecture, it’s hard to beat card sorting. Comprehensive Toolset: The range of tools available is unparalleled, encompassing everything from card sorting to usability testing, ensuring every aspect of my UX research is covered. However, those of us who have run card sorts know there is an art to conducting successful card sort studies, and May 6, 2021 · What is card sorting? Card-Sorting is a user-oriented, empirical usability method for generating quantitative (and qualitative) statements. After doing so, the users may be asked to Feb 19, 2024 · Card sorting and tree testing are two popular methods for evaluating and improving the usability of your website or app. Current practice: Most card sorting projects are open sort, where participants are given a list of content items representative of the content that is being planned (or already exists) for some portion of a Web site. This method is perfect if you are embarking on a redesign. To help, here's our guide to the top card sorting tools for UX research. This method involves asking participants to group various items or concepts into categories that they find logical. Feb 1, 2021 · Card Sorting Method Card sorting is a method used to help design or evaluate the information architecture of a site. Traditionally, you provide the user with a set of information and ask them to sort it into multiple pre-defined categories. Feb 25, 2025 · Let's discuss best practices for card sorting in UX research, compare methods, and cover a five-step process to conducting this exercise. Elevate your design game today! May 20, 2025 · With online tools like Hubble, you can streamline your research by using both tree testing and card sorting, along with other UX research methods like usability testing, 5-second tests, and more. The main goal of card sorting is a user-friendly design. In a card sort, contributors sort “cards” containing different items into groups. Best for: Teams already using UserTesting who want to add card sorting to their research toolkit. Together, they give you the edge of clearly understanding how your users think and navigate. Data were collected by interviewing, observation, usability test and card sorting. What is Card Sorting? Card sorting is defined as a user-centered design method used to help structure information, improve navigation, and enhance the overall usability of a website or application. Using card sorting along with other UX methods such as usability testing and tree testing can help you find out invaluable insights about the experience of your digital products and services. The set of cards can include pages, links, images, or descriptions of pages that users would navigate to on your website. Jun 14, 2024 · Labels in a card sorting study must be neutral to prevent keyword matching and encourage careful, conceptual groupings from users. Mar 19, 2013 · Closed card sorts are best used when you have a fixed number of categories or can’t change the labels because of design or organization constraints. Enhanced Usability By organizing information in a way that What is information architecture? “Information architecture (IA) focuses on organizing, structuring, and labeling content in an effective and sustainable way. May 24, 2023 · Combine tree testing and card sorting to maximize UX insights. Jun 14, 2024 · Card sorting is a usability testing method that helps you make better UX decisions—and it's pretty fun, too. Jan 1, 2008 · This article provides general guidelines for card sorting analysis and interpretation. Some help you explore user needs (like interviews, surveys, and card sorting); others help you validate what works (like usability testing, A/B testing, or tree testing). In this in-depth exploration, we will unravel the concepts behind Tree Testing and Card Sorting Apr 7, 2004 · Card sorting is a simple user-centered technique for obtaining insight into the structure of a site. Your website structure might make sense Card sorting works well with other UX research methods, like usability testing. Learn how users categorize content for better navigation and UX. Get information from user testing and sort them easily with this Card Sorting Template. Feb 9, 2025 · Key Features: Smooth integration with usability tests, allowing you to link card sorting findings with broader user behavior insights. gov and is a perfect example of how a card sorting report should be structured in order to not overlook any important data. In this piece, we’ll dive into the world of card sorting usability, dissecting its types, challenges, solutions, testing Use the card sorting test template to understand this qualitative research method and the benefits of seeing participants group content and label categories. On this page: Why card sorting? Our approach Sample analyses Why card sorting? Card sorting is a powerful Card Sorting is a test in the field of user experience (UX) and usability testing in which the participants are asked to group navigation items and labels according to what makes most sense to them. This key usability technique should be an important part of all intranet programmes. Aug 26, 2023 · The results obtained from manual and software-mediated card sorting are fairly similar [11, 12]. Tree testing and card sorting, along with usability testing, can give you insights into your users and audience. Use card sorts when you want to understand how people categorize information. In a card sorting session, participants organize topics into categories that make sense to them and they may also help you label these groups. In a card sorting session Card sorting is a user experience research technique used to help understand how users categorize information. Explore the ultimate guide to card sorting. If you like the webinars, be sure to check out Interaction Design for Usability course at the Interaction Design Foundation. Learn about top card sorting tools like Maze and Optimal Workshop, and discover how AI and ChatGPT can enhance your UX card sorting process. Card sorting is a usability testing method that helps you understand how your users categorize and label the information on your product or service. Learn how to use card sorting and tree testing for usability testing. Typically, this method was used most for structuring website navigation and structure, like Jakob Nielsen describes in Card sort aims to research how people understand information. There are Oct 11, 2024 · Card sorting is a technique used to understand how people organize and group information. It helps uncover how users think about and categorize information. It is a useful approach for designing information architecture, workflows, menu structure, or web site navigation paths. Jul 23, 2025 · It functions by providing pre-made cards with various product-related categories to users, who are then asked to arrange the cards in the most logical order. Learn how card sorting can help you design or improve your information architecture (IA) by letting users sort items into groups and name them. These may be represented on physical cards; virtual cards on computer screens; or photos in either physical or computer form. Improved Information Architecture Card sorting helps create a more intuitive information architecture by understanding how users categorize and organize information. The name “card sort” comes from the original exercise, which used index cards with a word or phrase written on one side, and in some cases, a definition or additional information on the reverse side. Utilize card sorting results in conjunction with usability testing to validate information architecture choices within the context of user tasks. Your website structure might make sense Card sorting is a user-centered taxonomy method in which participants organize and categorize information or concepts on digital “cards,” helping us to uncover patterns in their mental models and inform the design of information architecture with confidence. It’s cheap, reliable and easy to set up. This method can take different forms: Discover how to use card sorting to improve website navigation and UX. In this post, we explore how to do a card sorting exercise & why bother. Feb 13, 2023 · Information architects use card sorting in usability testing to organize web design and content effectively. Card sorting is a question type available in Express missions—both Media Surveys and Usability Tests. This dual approach enhances comprehension and usability while ensuring alignment with user expectations. Aug 30, 2024 · What is Card Sorting? Card sorting is a research technique used to understand how users organize and categorize information. gov: Create your list of content topics. Nov 24, 2014 · See a real-world analysis of card sorting results, based on an honest look at DWG’s own website. Testing ever-more users in card sorting has diminishing returns, but test at least 15 users -- 3 times more than you would in traditional usability tests. Jan 7, 2025 · Learn how card sorting can improve website navigation, when to use it, and its limitations. Empower users to categorize content, helping you create intuitive navigation and seamless UX. In this article, Pierre Croft will discuss card Feb 20, 2017 · Card sorting To test how information on the website should be organized, we conducted a type of usability testing called card sorting. Tips on when and how to use these research tools. In this article, we’ll take a look at what card sorting is and how it can help you deliver better user experiences to your site’s visitors. Jun 13, 2025 · Card sorting is a generative UX research method that helps you understand how people naturally organize information. Use a card sorting question when you want to know how participants think about and categorize a set of objects or ideas. In this way, the results of different techniques can be compared and designers and researchers can gain more insight into how users think and organize information. Useberry's Card Sorting tool helps you understand user mental models by allowing participants to organize content into categories, informing intuitive information architecture design. Why focus on remote user testing? Firstly, it’s where my experience lies. Learn the fundamentals of card sorting for UX research. " Optimal's specialized card sorting and tree testing tools reveal exactly how your audience naturally organizes, categorizes, and searches for information. This Traditional card sorting in a face-to-face setting can be performed by any number of testers working independently; delphi-method card sorting involves iterative review by a succession of testers. This is usually measured through established research methodologies under the term “usability testing,” which includes success rates and customer satisfaction. This study reports on the usability of three commercially available electronic card sort applications (CardZort, WebSort, and OpenSort) by researchers (Study 1) and by end users (Study 2). Card sorting is a usability testing method used to help design or evaluate the information architecture of a website. Abstract This study reports on the usability of three commercially available electronic card sort applications (CardZort, WebSort, and OpenSort) by researchers (Study 1) and by end users (Study 2). It includes specialized tools for card sorting, tree testing, first-click testing, surveys, and user interviews, all integrated into one platform. As a UX designer, it’s an essential tool to create user-friendly interfaces. Nov 20, 2020 · Eine nutzerfreundliche Informationsarchitektur ist Hygienefaktor für gute Usability und hohe Conversion-Rates. Understand user behavior and create intuitive navigation based on real insights. Jun 6, 2023 · Card sorting is a research method used to group, label, and describe information more effectively. Here's a primer on how to get started. By conducting card sorting user testing, you can gain valuable Card sorting is an effective, easy-to-use method for understanding how people think about content and categories. Learn the types, challenges, and solutions for a card sort. User testing post-redesign showed a 25% improvement in task completion rates, highlighting the usability benefits of a user-centered approach. Card Sorting is a technique to help structure and categorize your content. This paper proposes a new variant of open card sorting, the Task-Based Open Card Sorting (TB-OCS), which considers users’ tasks and simplifies data analysis. This imposes a much lower mental load on the remaining participants, rendering a sort of 200+ items a much more Jun 16, 2020 · Mixed card sorting includes cards with predetermined information, but allows the participant to create new categories or concepts that may be missing. Unmoderated testing is usually remote, with the participant testing the software at their location of choice, through an Internet connection. Apr 1, 2009 · Card sorting helps us understand how people think about content and categories. Learn which method best suits your UX research needs. ) first identifies key concepts and writes them on index cards or Post-it notes. Aug 26, 2020 · Card sorting is a very useful tool when it comes to organizing websites and finding out how your users view the information space… Sep 11, 2023 · Card sorting is a proven method for improving your site’s information architecture and usability, giving you a better understanding of how your target market thinks when searching for content on your site. Read our 2025 guide to card sorting here. These instructions will help you avoid needless confusion and inaccuracies. This systematic review Card Sorting is a Usability technique used to gather user input to guide the organization of content to create more effective site organization. It helps you create information that is easy to find and understand. In categorized card sorting, the tester creates predetermined ‘buckets’ for content to go into – e. But there’s a long-standing debate in the world of card sorting, and that’s whether it’s better to run card sorts in person (moderated) or Apr 7, 2016 · Discover the 7 best card sorting tools for UX research: OptimalSort, UXtweak, Miro, UserZoom, Proven By Users, xSort, and KardSort. As a matter of fact, according to Card Sorting at usability. Card sorting tools ask users to organise topics into categories. User-Centric Design Involving users in the organization of content ensures that the design aligns with their mental models, leading to a more user-friendly experience. It involves participants organizing topics into categories that make sense to them, which helps designers understand how users perceive and mentally categorize information. Occasionally, objects themselves may be sorted. In a user-centered design process, it is commonly used when developing a site architecture but has also been applied Card sorting is a usability testing method that tests the intuitiveness of a website’s navigation. This study reports on the usability of three commercially available electronic card sort applications (CardZort, WebSort, and OpenSort) by researchers and by end users. Usability is one part of the larger user experience (UX) umbrella. The term card sorting applies to a wide variety of activities involving the grouping and/or naming of objects or concepts. They help you understand how your users think about your content, structure Learn how to effectively analyze card sorting results, both qualitative and quantitative, to refine content organization for a better user experience. riu yirn6f pb ysvnxgm dqjp3i put cm4p6kf c7mro hlqf 0dj2