A presentation by Natalia Klishina at World IA Day 2017 in Denver.

1. How Card Sorting Helps You
Build People-Centric IA
N A T A L I A K L I S H I N A
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2. good navigation
starts with good ia
and your IA is only as good as your
understanding of your audience
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3. sawie
w w w . y o u r w e b s i t e h e r e . c o m
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
C A R D S O R T I N GNK
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4. sawie
w w w . y o u r w e b s i t e h e r e . c o m
CARD
SORTING
C A R D S O R T I N GNK
‣ Open vs. closed
‣ Online (remote) vs. in-person (moderated)
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5. sawie
w w w . y o u r w e b s i t e h e r e . c o m
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
C A R D S O R T I N GNK
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6. sawie
w w w . y o u r w e b s i t e h e r e . c o m
ONLINE VS.
IN-PERSON
C A R D S O R T I N GNK
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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7. w w w . y o u r w e b s i t e h e r e . c o m
IN-PERSON
CARD SORTING
C A R D S O R T I N GNK
In-person card sorting is especially
useful when page terminology is
highly technical, or could mean
different things to different users.
@ 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

8. w w w . y o u r w e b s i t e h e r e . c o m
ONLINE
CARD SORTING
C A R D S O R T I N GNK
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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9. w w w . y o u r w e b s i t e h e r e . c o m
C A R D S O R T I N GNK
@ N a t a l i a O n F i r e
SIMILARITY
MATRIX
Shows the percentage of participants
who agree with each card pairing.
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10. w w w . y o u r w e b s i t e h e r e . c o m
C A R D S O R T I N GNK
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DENDROGRAM
Shows the percentage of participants that
agree with various groupings.
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11. w w w . y o u r w e b s i t e h e r e . c o m
C A R D S O R T I N GNK
Participant-centric analysis shows the most
preferred groupings by participants, based on
their similarity with other responses.
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PCA

12. w w w . y o u r w e b s i t e h e r e . c o m
C A R D S O R T I N GNK
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PRESENTING
TO CLIENTS
Keep it simple.
Provide actionable information.
Prioritize recommendations.
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13. Optimal
Workshop
Usability
Tools
UserZoom
ONLINE CARD sorting tools
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C A R D S O R T I N GNK
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14. 6 Keys
to
Success
@ N a t a l i a O n F i r e
C A R D S O R T I N GNK
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15. 6 Keys
to
Success
1. BE CLEAR,
NOT BRIEF
It’s better to use a longer
phrase for a card than
jargon or an unfamiliar
product name.
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C A R D S O R T I N GNK
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16. 6 Keys
to
Success
1. BE CLEAR,
NOT BRIEF
It’s better to use a longer
phrase for a card than
jargon or an unfamiliar
product name.
@ N a t a l i a O n F i r e
C A R D S O R T I N GNK
2. LIMIT TOTAL
CARD NUMBER
Too many cards can be
overwhelming and leads to
mid-way abandons. Try to
set a cutoff around 60.
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17. 6 Keys
to
Success
@ N a t a l i a O n F i r e
C A R D S O R T I N GNK
1. BE CLEAR,
NOT BRIEF
It’s better to use a longer
phrase for a card than
jargon or an unfamiliar
product name.
2. LIMIT TOTAL
CARD NUMBER
Too many cards can be
overwhelming and leads to
mid-way abandons. Try to
set a cutoff around 60.
3. KEEP IT ON
ONE LEVEL
All the cards/pages you
include should be on the
same level (participants
can’t nest sub-pages).
@ F a c t i o n M e d i a

18. 6 Keys
to
Success 4. INCLUDE THE
RIGHT AUDIENCES
Test your target audience,
not your friends (and don’t
forget groups such as those
who aren’t Internet-savvy).
@ N a t a l i a O n F i r e
C A R D S O R T I N GNK
1. BE CLEAR,
NOT BRIEF
It’s better to use a longer
phrase for a card than
jargon or an unfamiliar
product name.
2. LIMIT TOTAL
CARD NUMBER
Too many cards can be
overwhelming and leads to
mid-way abandons. Try to
set a cutoff around 60.
3. KEEP IT ON
ONE LEVEL
All the cards/pages you
include should be on the
same level (participants
can’t nest sub-pages).
@ F a c t i o n M e d i a

19. 6 Keys
to
Success 4. INCLUDE THE
RIGHT AUDIENCES
Test your target audience,
not your friends (and don’t
forget groups such as those
who aren’t Internet-savvy).
5. DON’T BE
LEADING
People often mirror the terms
you use for card names when
coming up with category
names.
@ N a t a l i a O n F i r e
C A R D S O R T I N GNK
1. BE CLEAR,
NOT BRIEF
It’s better to use a longer
phrase for a card than
jargon or an unfamiliar
product name.
2. LIMIT TOTAL
CARD NUMBER
Too many cards can be
overwhelming and leads to
mid-way abandons. Try to
set a cutoff around 60.
3. KEEP IT ON
ONE LEVEL
All the cards/pages you
include should be on the
same level (participants
can’t nest sub-pages).
@ F a c t i o n M e d i a

20. 6 Keys
to
Success
@ N a t a l i a O n F i r e
C A R D S O R T I N GNK
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21. 6 Keys
to
Success 6. USE THE
RIGHT TOOLS
Card 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 BRIEF
It’s better to use a longer
phrase for a card than
jargon or an unfamiliar
product name.
4. INCLUDE THE
RIGHT AUDIENCES
Test your target audience,
not your friends (and don’t
forget groups such as those
who aren’t Internet-savvy).
5. DON’T BE
LEADING
People often mirror the terms
you use for card names when
coming up with category
names.
2. LIMIT TOTAL
CARD NUMBER
Too many cards can be
overwhelming and leads to
mid-way abandons. Try to
set a cutoff around 60.
3. KEEP IT ON
ONE LEVEL
All the cards/pages you
include should be on the
same level (participants
can’t nest sub-pages).
@ F a c t i o n M e d i a

22. 6 Keys
to
Success
@ N a t a l i a O n F i r e
C A R D S O R T I N GNK
Denver Center for Performing Arts: find “student discounts”
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23. SlickPlan DYNO Mapper WriteMaps
Site Mapping Tools
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24. THA N K YOU
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