card-sorting

name	card-sorting
description	Card sorting for information architecture, open vs closed sorts, and analyzing results.
triggers	["card sorting","information architecture","IA testing"]

Card Sorting

Types

Type	How	When
Open	Users group cards and name the groups	Discovering how users categorize
Closed	Users sort cards into pre-defined groups	Validating existing categories
Hybrid	Pre-defined groups + ability to create new ones	Validating + discovering

Running a Card Sort

1. Create cards (30-60 items, one concept per card)
2. Recruit 15-30 participants
3. In-person or online (tools: OptimalSort, Maze, UserZoom)
4. Ask participants to group and label
5. Analyze patterns

Analysis

• Similarity matrix: how often items were grouped together
• Dendrograms: hierarchical clustering visualization
• Category labels: what names participants chose
• Outliers: items nobody could categorize (rethink these)

Actionable Results

• Items frequently grouped together → same section/category
• Items placed in multiple groups → consider cross-referencing
• Groups with consistent labels → use those labels
• Ungroupable items → simplify, rename, or combine