Filed under: Intranets, Usability
Card sorting is a common technique within user-centred design (UCD) methodologies. It’s also an activity that can polarise opinions; people either believe in it, or think it’s a waste of time.
There are many articles and blog posts out there that measure the value of this UCD technique. This article focuses on a more specific aspect of the technique, which comes out of experience conducting a number of projects using card sorting — the use of offline and online card sorting methods.
What is card sorting?
Card sorting is an activity which asks participants to sort a selection of content — web pages, menu options etc — into categories that make sense to the individual or group.
Conducting this activity provides researchers with a user’s perspective into the groupings, and will typically inform information architecture (IA) designs.
It’s a simple technique, and perhaps the most widely used during intranet and website redesigns. Run with multiple groups of staff, it can provide valuable insights.
(August article by Alex Manchester, read the full article)