Card Sorting

Imagine you’re clocking in for your shift at the library and the owner asks you to sort and organize all books in a way that feels right to you. You start by sorting them by genre and then from A-Z. But when you ask your colleague for some input, they tell you they would have organized the books by color and alphabetically by the author's last name. Later that day, a friend of yours tells you about a bookstore that organizes their books by the country the story takes place in (yes, this library actually exists). This makes you reflect on what customers expect—what’s logical to you may not be logical to them. 

Card sorting operates similarly. It's a method used to understand how people logically categorize information. But not just any type of information, card sorting is commonly used to make sure a website aligns with its users’ expectations. In other words, they help designers create intuitive and easy-to-navigate websites.

During a card sorting session, participants are given cards representing website content including topics, links, images, videos, and other sections used to navigate through a website. They are then asked to sort these into categories that make sense to them. 

For example, a gourmet e-commerce website might provide participants with the cards: olive oil, chocolate, spices, and tea. A participant might create three categories, sorting olive oil and spices into "Cooking Essentials," chocolate into "Sweets," and teas into "Beverages."