How Card Sorting Helps You Build People-Centric IA NATALIA KLISHINA NK C A R D S O R T I N G @NataliaOnFire @FactionMedia
How Card Sorting Helps You Build People-Centric IA
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NK C A R D S O R T I N G @ N a t a l i a O n F i r e@ F a c t i o n M e d i a
good navigation starts with good ia
and your IA is only as good as your understanding of your audience
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CARD SORTING
A method used to help design or evaluate the information architecture of a site
By asking participants to organize topics into categories that make sense to them
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CARD SORTING
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‣ Open vs. closed
‣ Online (remote) vs. in-person (moderated)
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OPEN VS. CLOSED
“Open” card sorting asks participants to write in their own category names.
“Closed” card sorting gives participants pre-named categories to sort content into.
‣ Test an existing structure ‣ Add pages to an existing structure ‣ Verify results of “open” card sorting
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ONLINE VS. IN-PERSON
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Online (remote) card sorting provides quantitative results.
In-person (moderated) card sorting provides qualitative results.
‣ What items are causing the most confusion? ‣ What alternatives are users debating? ‣ What do certain terms mean to users?
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IN-PERSON CARD SORTING
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In-person card sorting is especially useful when page terminology is highly technical, or could mean different things to different users.
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ONLINE CARD SORTING
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Online card sorting allows you to recruit a large number of participants and get quantitative information that lends itself to analytics. (Jakob Nielsen recommends about 15 users.)
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SIMILARITY MATRIX
Shows the percentage of participants who agree with each card pairing.
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DENDROGRAM
Shows the percentage of participants that agree with various groupings.
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PRESENTING TO CLIENTS
Participant-centric analysis shows the most preferred groupings by participants, based on their similarity with other responses.
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PRESENTING TO CLIENTS
Keep it simple. Provide actionable information. Prioritize recommendations.
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Optimal Workshop
Usability ToolsUserZoom
ONLINE CARD sorting tools
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6 Keys to
Success
1. BE CLEAR, NOT BRIEFIt’s better to use a longer phrase for a card than jargon or an unfamiliar product name.
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6 Keys to
Success
1. BE CLEAR, NOT BRIEFIt’s better to use a longer phrase for a card than jargon or an unfamiliar product name.
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2. LIMIT TOTAL CARD NUMBERToo many cards can be overwhelming and leads to mid-way abandons. Try to set a cutoff around 60.
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6 Keys to
Success
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C A R D S O R T I N GNK
1. BE CLEAR, NOT BRIEFIt’s better to use a longer phrase for a card than jargon or an unfamiliar product name.
2. LIMIT TOTAL CARD NUMBERToo many cards can be overwhelming and leads to mid-way abandons. Try to set a cutoff around 60.
3. KEEP IT ON ONE LEVELAll the cards/pages you include should be on the same level (participants can’t nest sub-pages).
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6 Keys to
Success 4. INCLUDE THE RIGHT AUDIENCESTest your target audience, not your friends (and don’t forget groups such as those who aren’t Internet-savvy).
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C A R D S O R T I N GNK
1. BE CLEAR, NOT BRIEFIt’s better to use a longer phrase for a card than jargon or an unfamiliar product name.
2. LIMIT TOTAL CARD NUMBERToo many cards can be overwhelming and leads to mid-way abandons. Try to set a cutoff around 60.
3. KEEP IT ON ONE LEVELAll the cards/pages you include should be on the same level (participants can’t nest sub-pages).
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6 Keys to
Success 4. INCLUDE THE RIGHT AUDIENCESTest your target audience, not your friends (and don’t forget groups such as those who aren’t Internet-savvy).
5. DON’T BE LEADINGPeople often mirror the terms you use for card names when coming up with category names.
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C A R D S O R T I N GNK
1. BE CLEAR, NOT BRIEFIt’s better to use a longer phrase for a card than jargon or an unfamiliar product name.
2. LIMIT TOTAL CARD NUMBERToo many cards can be overwhelming and leads to mid-way abandons. Try to set a cutoff around 60.
3. KEEP IT ON ONE LEVELAll the cards/pages you include should be on the same level (participants can’t nest sub-pages).
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6 Keys to
Success 6. USE THE RIGHT TOOLSCard sorting isn’t always needed. Sometimes tree testing or user testing can be more useful.
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C A R D S O R T I N GNK
1. BE CLEAR, NOT BRIEFIt’s better to use a longer phrase for a card than jargon or an unfamiliar product name.
4. INCLUDE THE RIGHT AUDIENCESTest your target audience, not your friends (and don’t forget groups such as those who aren’t Internet-savvy).
5. DON’T BE LEADINGPeople often mirror the terms you use for card names when coming up with category names.
2. LIMIT TOTAL CARD NUMBERToo many cards can be overwhelming and leads to mid-way abandons. Try to set a cutoff around 60.
3. KEEP IT ON ONE LEVELAll the cards/pages you include should be on the same level (participants can’t nest sub-pages).
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6 Keys to
Success
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Denver Center for Performing Arts: find “student discounts”
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SlickPlan DYNO Mapper WriteMaps
Site Mapping Tools
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