What are the best practices for card sorting in user-centered design?

2 Prepare your cards and participants

Before you conduct a card sorting session, you need to prepare your cards and participants. Your cards should represent the main topics or features of your web application, and they should be clear, concise, and consistent. You can use physical cards, online tools, or a combination of both. Your participants should be representative of your target users, and you should recruit enough of them to get reliable results. A general rule of thumb is to have at least 15 participants for open card sorting and 30 for closed card sorting.

3 Conduct the card sorting session

When you conduct a card sorting session, you should follow some basic guidelines to ensure a smooth and effective process. First, you should explain the purpose and instructions of the card sorting to your participants, and let them know how long it will take and how you will use the results. Second, you should observe and record the participants' actions and comments, but avoid influencing or interrupting them. Third, you should ask the participants to explain their choices and reasoning after they finish the card sorting, and thank them for their time and feedback.

4 Analyze the card sorting results

After you conduct a card sorting session, it's important to analyze the results to draw insights and conclusions. Depending on the type and format of your card sorting, you can use various methods and tools to analyze the results, such as a similarity matrix, a dendrogram, cluster analysis, or a category map. Through analyzing the results, you can identify patterns, trends, outliers, and gaps in your users' mental models, preferences, and expectations. Furthermore, you can compare the results with your own assumptions and goals to inform your web application's information architecture, navigation, and labeling.

5 Test and iterate your web application

Finally, you should test and iterate your web application based on the insights and conclusions from your card sorting results. You can use different methods and tools to test your web application, such as usability testing, heuristic evaluation, or user feedback. You should aim to test your web application with real users and real tasks, and measure how well it meets their needs and expectations. You should also be open to making changes and improvements based on the test results, and repeat the card sorting and testing process until you achieve a satisfactory outcome.

6 Learn more about card sorting and user-centered design

Card sorting is a powerful and versatile method that can help you create user-friendly and effective web applications. However, it is not the only method that you should use in user-centered design. User-centered design is a holistic and iterative approach that involves understanding your users, defining your problems, generating and evaluating your solutions, and implementing and delivering your products. To learn more about card sorting and user-centered design, you can explore various resources, such as books, courses, blogs, podcasts, or communities.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?