A good UX design gains popularity because of its visual appeal and how easily users can find what they’re looking for. A website’s top usability problem is that content is structured based on what makes sense to the company and not the end-users.
Card sorting is one of the primary ways to sort out the navigation scheme or structure of an app, website, or prototype that best matches the users’ mental model or conditioning.
It represents how they navigate and expect content to be categorized and grouped.
This helps with quicker transactions and reduces the bounce rate on a website.
What is card sorting?
Card sorting is a UX research method that involves studying participants grouping individual labels written on notecards based on criteria that seem sensible to them.
It helps understand their attitudes, values, preferences, and behaviors related to the domain under study. This method helps uncover how the target audience’s domain knowledge is structured, and it serves to create an information architecture based on the users’ expectations.
Information Architecture defines how all the content of a site is related and fits together as a coherent unit. It refers to the structure of information on a website and is depicted with site maps, spreadsheets, and diagrams. Card Sorting helps understand the user’s perception of the information space in the IA planning stage.
The grouping or naming of objects and concepts may be represented on physical or virtual cards on computer screens; or photos in either physical or digital formats.
Sorting is usually performed by the potential users of an interactive solution providing,
- Terminology (what people call things)
- Relationships (proximity, similarity)
- Categories (groups and their names)
This information is used by designers to decide which items should be grouped in displays, how the menu elements should be organized and labeled, and, more fundamentally, the words to describe the objects that need user attention.
Card Sorting is useful to:
- Design a new website or enhance an existing website or section update
- Discover how your customers expect to see your information grouped on your website.
- Get the user’s familiarized with the information architecture and the user-centric design.
- Prevent the confused organization of content on a website or webpage.
Benefits of Card Sorting for UX Designers
- It is reliable, cost-efficient, and easy to set up.
- Help in designing an optimized navigation structure for a website/app.
- Promote smoother interactions between users and the system by presenting a user-friendly interface.
- Help define a clear content strategy for a website.
- Help scientifically evaluate and fix website structural problems in the early stages of design evolution.
When to use it?
Card sorting is used in the following situations. It is typically useful in improving the labeling, grouping, and organization of information.
- Information or content has to be grouped by type, subject, or category.
- Group your content or products in a way that will make sense to your user base.
- Untangle complexity in information depiction (sitemaps).
- Sort or organize content in a particular order (FAQ section).
- Decide on a structure for your website.
- Find the right words for navigation.
