Card Sorting Phase
From GSLIS IA Project
Contents |
[edit] Card Sorting Phase
Team leaders: Jennifer Andrews and Karen Stern
Current phase status: This phase has been completed.
Card sort leaders are assisting in the paper prototyping and doing additional reading.
[edit] What is Card Sorting?
A method for finding out how users think about the organization of information, for example in a website. In other words, a way to learn about users’ mental models.
[edit] Why do we do it?
The idea is that users’ mental models, not site designers’, should determine the organizational structure of a website.
[edit] How do we do it?
Tools:
- 3 X 5 note cards, pens, and a large table
- or…
- Software or web applications designed especially for the job
[edit] Image of Card Sort
Methods:
- Open Sort - Users are given a set of topics on cards and asked to put them in categories that make sense to them. When they have done so, they give their categories names.
- Closed Sort - Users are given predetermined category names and asked to slot a number of topics into each category.
Results: The results are usually analyzed using cluster analysis algorithms for a general overview of the categories chosen. The various topic categories chosen by participants are then standardized by the team.
- Participate in card sorting (fast and fun): Online Card Sorting Exercise
[edit] What will card sorting do for the GSLIS sites?
Card sorting will give us an insight into how the various GSLIS user groups would like to see the information on our sites organized. The information gathered will be tested against the user personas we develop and will also suggest some possible IA structures to test in the paper prototyping phase.
[edit] Where are we now?
The Card Sorting phase has ben completed.
