Card Sorting
Alfred Kobsa
University of California, Irvine
Card sorting
Card sorting can be used to understand users’conceptual
models of an interface or information structure
• Each card shows one concept (which come from user studies or directly
from designers)
• Participants are asked to order cards hierarchically and to come up with
category names (possibly let them think aloud, to capture their rationales)
• Performed individually or in a small group. Also over the Internet
• Variants:
• Category names are pre-defined (closed set or user-extensible)
• Freelisting: users produce all card concepts falling under a category
• Number of cards: 60-70 maximum
• Number of studies: start with 5-6, add some more, and stop when there
seems convergence in the results. Otherwise add more studies,
specifically if there are different user types (no more than 30 total).
• Software available (with consolidation across participants)
E.g., OptimalSort
Result: “Dendrogram”
Result: “Dendrogram”