Creation of the Open Labs Handbook — Card Sorting
In May, I was approached for the third time by someone looking to replicate Open Labs in another region. Another inquiry email was exactly the kick I needed to create a ‘how to’, repeatable handbook for Open Labs.
I decided to run a card sort because I wanted to architect information to truly reflected the needs of both neurotypical and neurodivergent people. Does a person with bipolar, who typically has divergent thinking, have different needs from our neurotypical community manager? I ran a card sort to find out!
Participants
- Colorado Community Manager, National Community Manager (Hollis — neurotypical)
- Potential West Coast Community Manager (neurodivergent)
- 2 neurodivergent Open Labs members
- 2 neurotypical Open Labs members
Process
I was constrained by one remote interviewee and managing schedules, so I decided to run the card sort virtually while on a video chat, asking participants to talk about their experience aloud as they sorted. Optimal Workshop was kind enough to give us a free sort as a nonprofit. An open card sort seemed most fitting for my goal of understanding the neurotypical versus neurodivergent mind.
People with bipolar have more thoughts that may appear to be abstractly connected. I am neurotypical. Would my design meet their needs?
I was a bit concerned that the cards were not comprehensive or that there was too much variance in the specificity versus generality of the topics.
Findings
The impetus for this card sort was two-fold: 1) ensure I am on track with the handbook design and 2) uncover anything I missed as a neurotypical designing for all minds alike.
I learned that neurotypicals and neurodivergent did not have a large variety in the way they organized the information. Rather, they optimized for the roles they had chosen as volunteers in the community. Unsurprisingly, they were focused on their own needs, just like any other user.
Insights >>> Recommendations
- I learned that neurotypicals and neurodivergent did not have a large variety in the way they organized the information. Rather, they optimized for the roles they had chosen as volunteers in the community. No surprise, they were focused on their own needs, just as any other user. >>> Create a navigation based on roles, highlight commitment (ongoing versus finite event)
- Open Weekend nomenclature was confusing. We’ve changed terminology several times in the past months at Open Labs and this was a friendly reminder that we need to get clear! >>> Include chronological agenda with nomenclature to provide context
- Titles matter — the new role of ‘Community Manager’ takes on the role ‘Programming Lead’ >>> Define ‘Programming Lead’ as a responsibility of the Community Manager
- Fun (unintended) learning: An interviewee is pregnant and drew an analogy to her pregnancy apps. >>>
“Do this now. All of that other stuff is like SUPER important too, just don’t think about it right now.”
Dendrogram (Best Merge Method)
‘The Best Merge Method often performs better than the Actual Agreement Method when your study has fewer participants. It makes assumptions about larger clusters based on individual pair relationships.’ — Optimal Workshop
In this case, the small sample size of 6 participants followed this rule. The Best Merge Method showed the most common grouping titles and narrowed the groups down to:
- Introduction
- How to Build and Run an Open Weekend
- Ongoing Activities
- Operations
Final Recommendations
Based on the results of this card sort and inspiration informed by similar models I built the handbook as follows:
Introduction
Mission
Vision
Diagram of Open Labs with Open Weekend as the central focus
Roles and Commitments
Membership Criteria + Protocol
Vocabulary of Open Labs (and frequent links throughout back to where the word is first referenced)
How to Build and Run an Open Weekend
Roles
Chronological ‘how to guide’
Indications when the ‘how to’ references an ongoing activity
Design files
Ongoing Activities
Roles
Monthly socials
Open Coffee
Communication tools — Slack, Facebook, Newsletter
Open Council
Indications when the ‘how to’ references the Open Weekend
Operations
Roles
- Product Manager for Open Weekend
- Program Manager for Ongoing Activities
- Communications
Tools
Finances
Credentials and Passwords
FAQ
Want to see the handbook in action? Join a community of people in tech with brain or mental conditions at www.openlabs.world
