Remote Card Sorting
What we learned
Card Sorting is a very useful tool for defining the information architecture of a digital interface. It can be organized in a free or structured way, with a single user or with a group of people.
During the quarantine period due to Covid-19 we opted for this option for the first time, and we discovered what the advantages and limitations are compared to the Live version.
How Card Sorting works
In card sorting, participants are asked to organize the concepts they associate with a specific scenario, service or product, summarizing them with short phrases or keywords in cards. These cards can be sorted, grouped, added or removed according to each user’s mental model.
Card Sorting sessions can be more or less free, leaving the user to create their own categories of meaning, or providing a predefined set of categories into which the user will have to group the cards.
Output Card Sorting session output
At the end of the “card sorting” session, the distribution of the cards will help the designer and the client to visualize the concepts transposed within a hierarchical structure that will represent the user’s mental model.
The output is not only quantitative and logical, but also qualitative. For example, if the customer is directly involved in the session, he can deepen the perception of his product, comparing his own point of view with that of its users.
The outcome of the session will help all participants to identify new themes, develop key ones and map their connections.
“Cool! We understood what we do!”
— The Client
Live Card Sorting
In live card sorting, participants interact with actual physical cards, such as post-its or pieces of paper organized on a work surface or board.
In live sessions the main advantages are for both the moderator and the participants:
- In sessions with multiple users at the same time, the dialogue can be supported more naturally. Body language will suggest the intentions of each participant so that they will not suffer interference from others during their turn;
- The moderator can observe the user’s expressions.
The disadvantage is that the output of the live session will then have to be digitalized.
Remote Card Sorting
Remote card sorting can be organized with the support of collaboration tools such as digital whiteboards like Miro.
Obviously the advantages of the remote workshop come from ubiquity:
- It is not necessary to organize the physical space to facilitate the session;
- Each participant will be able to connect from their own location;
- The output can be directly digitized.
The disadvantage is that in multi-user sessions the participant does not have direct visibility of the intentions of others and could interfere in their activities. Often because, for example, the card drag animations of the remote tool cannot represent in the same way the physical movement of distributing the cards to the other participants, who thus cannot understand which element has been moved and where.
Our conclusion is that to date remote collaboration tools are a valid alternative to the live workshop, but they will never replace live human interaction.
