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298:), an existing structure of categories and sub-categories is tested. Users are given tasks and are asked to complete them navigating a collection of cards. Each card contains the names of subcategories related to a category, and the user should find the card most relevant to the given task starting from the main card with the top-level categories. This ensures that the structure is evaluated in isolation, nullifying the effects of navigational aids, visual design, and other factors. Reverse card sorting is
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318:. Rather than each participant creating their own card sort, only the first participant does a full card sort of organizing and arranging items. The next participant iterates on the first participant's model, then the third participant iterates on the second's model, and so on. The idea is that with each iteration the card sort gets more refined with fewer participants and consensus is built sooner.
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Various methods can be used to analyze the data. The purpose of the analysis is to extract patterns from the population of test subjects, so that a common set of categories and relationships emerges. This common set is then incorporated into the design of the environment, either for navigation or for
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A number of web-based tools are available to perform card sorting. The perceived advantage of web-based card sorting is that it reaches a larger group of participants at a lower cost. The software can also help analyze the sort results. A perceived disadvantage of a remote card sort is the lack of
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A card sort is commonly undertaken when designing a navigation structure for an environment that offers a variety of content and functions, such as a web site. In that context, the items to organize are those significant in the environment. The way the items are organized should make sense to the
278:, participants are provided with a predetermined set of category names. They then assign the index cards to these fixed categories. This helps reveal the degree to which the participants agree on which cards belong under each category. Closed sorting is
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exists for a subject, it would be natural to apply that taxonomy to organize both the information in the environment, and any navigation to particular subjects or functions. Card sorting is useful when:
262:, participants create their own names for the categories. This helps reveal not only how they mentally classify the cards, but also what terms they use for the categories. Open sorting is
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Card sorting uses a relatively low-tech approach. The person conducting the test (usability analyst, user experience designer, etc.) first identifies key concepts and writes them on
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This person groups the terms in whatever way they think is logical, and gives each group a category name, either from an existing card or by writing a name on a blank card.
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Members of the audience that uses the environment differ significantly in how they view the similarities among items and the appropriate groupings of items.
53:. Test subjects, individually or sometimes as a group, then arrange the cards to represent how they see the structure and relationships of the information.
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282:; it is typically used to judge whether a given set of category names provides an effective way to organize a given collection of content.
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personal interaction between card sort participants and the card sort administrator, which may produce valuable insights.
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The variety of items to organize is so great that no existing taxonomy is accepted as organizing the items.
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A person representative of the audience receives a set of index cards with terms written on them.
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590:. The 10th Asia Pacific Conference on Computer Human Interaction (APCHI2012). Matsue, Japan.
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is founded on the study of the structure of information. If an accepted and standardized
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512:"Organizing Your Site: 'So you take a left at the green water tower…'"
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Card sorting is an established technique with an emerging literature.
387:"Card Sorting to Discover the Users' Model of the Information Space"
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2ecd9b52-26a1-4390-9a40-ee9c2df4b5f2@m45g2000hsb.googlegroups.com
563:"A modified Delphi approach to a new card sorting methodology"
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Testers repeat this process across a group of test subjects.
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The testers later analyze the results to discover patterns.
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726:"Can Card Sorting Improve the Usability of Your Designs?"
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other purposes. Card sorting is also evaluated through
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314:, The Modified-Delphi card sort is based on the
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719:(2nd ed.). Interaction Design Foundation.
717:The Encyclopedia of Human-Computer Interaction
715:. In Soegaard, Mads; Dam, Rikke Friis (eds.).
64:target audience and cannot be determined from
587:A Comparison of Card-sorting Analysis Methods
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434:Maurer, Donna; Warfel, Todd (April 7, 2004).
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221:. Unsourced material may be challenged and
133:. Unsourced material may be challenged and
619:Card Sorting: Designing Usable Categories
241:Learn how and when to remove this message
153:Learn how and when to remove this message
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38:. It is a useful approach for designing
682:Coxon, Anthony Peter Macmillan (1999).
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413:"Card Sorting: How Many Users to Test"
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685:Sorting Data: Collection and Analysis
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510:Watrall, Ethan; Siarto, Jeff (2009).
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219:adding citations to reliable sources
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131:adding citations to reliable sources
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561:Paul, Celeste Lyn (November 2008).
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436:"Card sorting: a definitive guide"
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622:. Brooklyn, NY: Rosenfeld Media.
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455:"Card Sorting for Web Design"
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567:Journal of Usability Studies
338:Online (remote) card sorting
306:Modified-Delphi card sorting
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485:"Card Sorting Introduction"
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657:Measuring User Experience
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165:To perform a card sort:
73:information architecture
40:information architecture
16:Not to be confused with
616:Spencer, Donna (2009).
294:(more popularly called
28:user experience design
517:Head First Web Design
358:Group concept mapping
757:Qualitative research
653:"Card-sorting Tools"
489:Design for Usability
463:uk.net.web.authoring
417:Nielsen Norman Group
391:Nielsen Norman Group
286:Reverse card sorting
215:improve this section
127:improve this section
270:Closed card sorting
34:(category tree) or
762:Survey methodology
520:. Sebastopol, CA:
26:is a technique in
711:Hudson, William.
695:978-0-8039-7237-7
629:978-1-933820-02-6
539:978-0-596-52030-4
411:(July 19, 2004).
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659:. p. 1
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741:Categories
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573:(1): 7–30.
369:References
300:evaluative
280:evaluative
264:generative
231:April 2017
143:April 2017
36:folksonomy
32:dendrogram
767:Usability
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663:29 August
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