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
- Create cards (30-60 items, one concept per card)
- Recruit 15-30 participants
- In-person or online (tools: OptimalSort, Maze, UserZoom)
- Ask participants to group and label
- 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