

You can conduct a One on One Sort with physical cards or with an online tool, and the observer will be able to ask questions as they feel the need. One on One Card Sorting gives participants the opportunity to think aloud as they categorize your content, which in turn will allow you a better understanding of their thought processes-and even their reactions. One on One Card Sorting is a method involving two people, as the name implies: a participant and a facilitator, either yourself or someone you’ve assigned the task to. This method is particularly useful if you already have your categories (which can often happen if you’re designing the site layout for an already existing website) but want to know how your target market understands each label.Ī combination of both Open and Closed Card Sorting can be very useful.

It is an excellent way to discover how your site’s target market perceive topics and how they think of them collectively (concerning the name they give to each group of items). In an Open Card Sort, you ask your participants to group your website’s content in a way that makes sense to them, and then give each group a label that describes the category most accurately from their point of view.
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Having an informative and engaging home page, with easily identifiable links to each category and main content pages allow visitors to your site to know what to expect and how to find the information that they are seeking. Most importantly, you’ll know not only how to design your home page layout but also what exactly you ought to put on it.

If you’ve allowed for your card sorting participants to make suggestions on category names, you’ll also know how best to label each section so visitors to your site can easily make a connection between content and category. You’ll have a better understanding of how users perceive and group topics, which will allow you to categorize your content in a way that makes sense to them. Using the information gathered in a card sorting session, you’ll have a better idea of how to structure your site to cater to your target market. The categories recommended by your card sorting participants (whether a dedicated team or freelance volunteers) will sometimes come with the individuals’ recommendation for a new label. Participants in a card sorting session will sort topics into groups in a way that makes sense to them, which helps you as the site owner or manager to organize your content. Optimally, the information architecture should be effective and sustainable, with the intention of helping users to find information and complete tasks on your site. Information architecture (IA) is the organization, structure, and labeling of content. What Is Card Sorting?Ĭard sorting is a means of assisting in the design and evaluation of a site’s information architecture. When content is not where you expected it to be, your website will lose visitors and reputation of being a credible source of information.Ĭard sorting (and by extension, card sorting tools) is a convenient means of testing your site’s layout and finding out whether or not you need to make any changes that can improve your information architecture. Is your website organized in a manner that makes sense not only to you but also site visitors within your target market? Nothing can be more frustrating than not being able to find information that you know is available on a site.
