How to Understand User Behavior on Your Website Using Heatmaps and Card Sorting

Are you looking to dive deeper into understanding user behavior on your website? Have you considered using heatmaps or card sorting techniques? If so, do you know how to effectively use them?

In today’s edition, we will cover these 2 techniques, breakdown how to use them and even highlight respective ux tools that you can use.

Unveiling Insights with Heatmaps:

What are Heatmaps? Heatmaps visually represent user interactions on your website, utilizing color gradients to showcase areas of high and low engagement. Imagine it as a visual guide, highlighting the spots that capture the most attention.

Practical Tips for Using Heatmaps:

• Identify Hotspots:

Spot areas where users click the most, indicating high engagement. Also use hotspots to identify critical areas with low engagement that might need to be reworked on.

Example: If the "Sign Up" button is glowing red, it could indicate interest of signing up from lots of site visitors.

• Evaluate Scroll Behavior:

Understand how far users scroll, identifying drop-off points and adjusting content placement.

Example: If users miss critical information below the fold, consider moving it higher on the page.

• Mobile Responsiveness:

Check how users interact on different devices, optimizing for mobile based on heatmap insights.

Example: If certain features are less used on mobile, reassess their placement for improved accessibility.

Tools for Heatmaps:

• Hotjar
• Crazy Egg
• Mouse flow
• MS Clarity (Free and Open-source)

Optimizing Information Architecture with Card Sorting:

What is Card Sorting? Card sorting is a method used to understand how users categorize information in their minds. It's especially useful for organizing your website’s content structure. You can conduct a session where users sort cards into groups that make sense to them, which helps you design a more intuitive navigation.

Practical Tips for Conducting Card Sorting:

• Define Your Goals: Before starting, be clear about what you want to learn from the card sorting exercise. This could be understanding user mental models, testing information architecture, or identifying user-friendly categorizations.
• Choose the Right Method: There are two main types of card sorting: open and closed. In open card sorting, participants sort cards into categories they create themselves. In closed card sorting, participants sort cards into pre-defined categories. Choose the method that best fits your research objectives.
• Prepare Your Cards: The cards should represent individual pieces of content or concepts. Ensure they are clearly written and understandable. If conducting the sort digitally, use a tool that is easy for participants to use.

• Involve Real Users: Include a diverse range of users who represent your target audience. The number of participants can vary, but a range of 15-30 is typically sufficient to identify patterns.
• Iterative Refinement: Use card sorting insights iteratively to enhance your information architecture.Example: If users consistently group certain items, consider restructuring your menu for a more intuitive layout.

Tools for Card Sorting:

• Optimal Workshop
• UserZoom
• UsabilityHub
• Maze
• Kardsort (Free)

Combining Heatmaps and Card Sorting for Holistic Insights:

Understanding user behavior necessitates a strategic blend of card sorting and heatmap insights, offering a 360-degree view of user interactions.

• Identifying Patterns:

Heatmaps showcase quantitative engagement, while card sorting reveals qualitative categorization patterns. Example Scenario: Heatmaps could indicate high engagement with the "Features" section while card sorting unveil users naturally group certain features together.

• Cross-Referencing Data:

Overlay heatmap data with card sorting results to identify correlations. Example: Verify that high engagement with "Features" aligns with how users categorize those features in card sorting.

• Addressing Discrepancies:

Investigate any disparities between heatmap interactions and card sorting preferences. Example: Users might click on a feature out of curiosity, but card sorting may reveal it's not a primary category in their mental model.

• Informing Information Architecture Changes:

Use the combined insights to make informed adjustments to your information architecture. Example: If a heatmap hotspot aligns with card sorting preferences for a specific category, consider emphasizing it in your site's navigation.

• Iterative Optimization:

Continuously refine your website based on the interplay of heatmap and card sorting data. Example: Monitor changes in user behavior after implementing information architecture adjustments and iterate further as needed.

Tools for Combined Analysis:

• Session Recordings: Observe user sessions in real-time for deeper insights.
• User Surveys: Gather feedback on specific aspects revealed by heatmaps and card sorting.

Example: Suppose heatmaps indicate users frequently click on the "Customer Stories" section, while card sorting shows they group testimonials with "Product Success Stories." Combining these insights might lead to creating a dedicated "Customer Stories" section that includes both testimonials and success stories.

Attend Our Very First UX Conference!

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Experience a day packed with networking, expert talks, live Q&A, workshops, music, and more. Expand your UX horizons with valuable connections, knowledge, and opportunities.

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Would you like:

• Tool Reviews and Comparisons: Expert reviews, tutorials and comparisons of various tools used for heatmaps and card sorting.
• Webinars and Workshops: Recorded sessions where experts demonstrate heatmap analysis and card sorting techniques.

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Have yourself an amazing week!

Warm regards,

The RB Team