Card Sorting Definition

Card Sorting is a methodology that quickly, economically, and accurately assists in the organization of website hierarchy. By means of this technique, a harmonious information architecture for your website can be built along with insights into navigation design, menu organization, and content grouping according to logic. The basic process includes participants categorizing the labeled cards into groups that are logical to them; each card stands for a particular part of the site or its function.

This method leads you to a potential framework rather than a certain one and at the same time, it helps to clarify some of the questions that might pop up in the future design stages. For instance, users could signal that some data is categorized wrongly or that the terms used are not clear or too formal.

On the other hand, card sorting does not take into account the user’s tasks but only the content. A layout, which is devised without analyzing the actions the users are supposed to carry out, may turn out to be tough and not very effective in the real-world usage.