WebCAT Category Analysis Tool

The Web Category Analysis Tool (WebCAT) is a variation on traditional card sorting techniques that allows a web designer/usability engineer to test a proposed or existing categorization scheme of a website to determine how well the categories and items are understood by users.

NIST. Articles>User Centered Design>Information Design>Card Sorting

Card Sorting

This is a simple technique that enables one person or a group of people to create a categorisation of objects so that it is understood which objects belong with which other objects. Objects can be anything: menu items, blocks of content, proposed web pages, URLs. This method can be used by practically anybody after a few minutes practice.

European MultiMedia Usability Services (1999). Articles>Information Design>User Centered Design>Card Sorting

Card Sorting

Card Sorting is a technique for exploring how people group items, so that you can develop structures that maximize the probability of users being able to find items.

Gaffney, Gerry. Information and Design (2006). Articles>Information Design>User Centered Design>Card Sorting

Card Sorting, Part 1

Card sorting is a user testing method for organising data into structure. There’s a lot of information about on what they are, how to conduct them. Problem is, they’re all over the place and mostly they’re written by scientists so tend to be a little difficult to grasp and bogged down in analysis (which can take over your life if you let it!) I’ve decided to document my understanding of how to plan, conduct and analyse a card sort, from a practitioners point of view.

Boulton, Mark. Mark Boulton (2007). Articles>Information Design>User Centered Design>Card Sorting

Card Sorting, Part 2: Facilitation

You should now have everything ready to conduct your card sorts - cards, users, observers and most importantly a clear objective of what you want to achieve.

Boulton, Mark. Mark Boulton (2007). Articles>Information Design>User Centered Design>Card Sorting

Card Sorting, Part 3: Analysis and Reporting

In the final part of the article I talk about perhaps the most important part of the procedure - Analysis. This is the part in which you can get the most bogged down. You must be thorough, ruthless and accurate. Card sorting won’t always give you the answer - it may just give you more questions. This is where the analysis comes in.

Boulton, Mark. Mark Boulton (2007). Articles>Information Design>User Centered Design>Card Sorting