There’s something about cards. Cards
can turn the drab and mundane into
something strangely exciting. Recipe
cards, for example, have a peculiar allure
that cookbooks lack. A book full of tables
of baseball statistics? Dull as dishwater. Put
those same stats on the backs of trading cards,
however, and now you’ve got something.
You’ll see this same pattern unfold whenever
card sorting is included in a user research
session. Maybe the research participants have
already been asked to poke at a prototype
design, or they’ve simply answered a bunch of
questions about their attitudes and preferences.
In any case, their demeanor inevitably changes
when the cards come out for sorting. “What’s
this?” they seem to be saying to themselves.
“This doesn’t look like what I expected. This
looks like it might actually be...fun!”
Card sorting is an effective, easy-to-use method for understanding how people think about content and categories. It helps you create information that is easy to find and understand. In "Card Sorting: Designing Usable Categories," Donna Spencer shows you how to plan and run a card sort, analyze the results, and apply the outcomes to your projects.
TESTIMONIALS
"This is a wonderful book on a much-needed topic. While card sorting is a basic tool of the trade, it's previously received short-shrift in any practical publication. Donna's done an amazing job explaining (in easy-to-understand terms) what every designer, architect, and researcher should know about the ins-and-outs of card sorting. (You might need to buy two copies, because I guarantee someone will borrow your first copy and never return it.)"."
Jared M. Spool, CEO and Founding Principal, User Interface Engineering
"This book is a fresh, clear, practical explanation of the value of card-sorting, how to do it, and how to use the results. Spencer mixes step-by-step instructions and good examples with just enough theory. You'll emerge from this book with new skills to create great user-centered information architectures--and smart responses to tricky questions from pesky stakeholders."."
Tamara Adlin, Founding Partner, Fell Swoop, and co-author of The Persona Lifecycle: Keeping People in Mind Throughout Product Design
"I wish we had this book when we first started doing card sorting. It's a fantastic handbook that is full of very practical advice and examples from Donna's extensive experience. We will be recommending it to all our customers."."
Sam Ng, Creator of online card sorting tool OptimalSort
"Donna has put together the definitive work on card sorting, a must have tool for all information architects. If you want to plan, run and analyse your own card sorts, this book has it all."."
Andy Budd, User Experience Director, Clearleft
