In-person card sorting is advantageous because you're only testing 20-30 people.
Xsort test free#
Fortunately, there are free tools available, but we'll talk more about these options later on in this post. The downside is some of these options are paid tools and, depending on your business needs, the right tool for you might fall outside your team's budget. This makes the test more available to your target audience and typically easier to follow. Online card sorting tools create an interactive user experience that's accessible from your computer or smart device. Both have their advantages and are viable ways of card sorting. The next step is fairly straightforward - you need to decide whether your test will take place online or through an in-person environment. These people make up the core part of your target audience and their feedback is exactly what you're looking for when redesigning a website. You should aim to have 20-30 people participate and look for individuals that are familiar with your brand and have previously purchased your products. Since card sorting is more hands-on than taking a survey or filling out a questionnaire, you should be more selective when seeking out qualified participants. If you're expecting more traffic to certain areas of your website, then it may be that users are having trouble finding or accessing that content. If that's not the case, then you can conduct a site audit and look for pages or sections that aren't getting a lot of traffic. If you're redesigning your current site, then you may already have topics or pages that you'll want to include in your list. This will give you a baseline to compare your findings to after you conduct your test. You can start by creating a list of these items and put them in an order that you feel would make sense. If you're building a new website, then you should have a general idea of what types of pages and content that it will host. Determine How You'll Present Your Data.Present Topics to Individual Participants.The image below can show you how this process might look in action. You can either ask participants to group webpages based on personal preference or create preset categories to see where pages are most commonly placed.
For example, if you're not sure what to include in your navigation bar, card sorting can give you an idea of how you should segment your site. Card Sorting ExampleĬard sorting is particularly valuable when you're designing a home page or navigation bar.
Let's review a common one in the section below. This helps web designers create the site's information architecture by identifying topics or information that should be grouped together.Ĭard sorting can come in handy for many different scenarios. Researchers then compare the results and look for common or similar groups created by different participants. In some cases, they're presented with predetermined categories, and in others, they're asked to assign a label to each group that accurately describes it.
Xsort test how to#
This helps businesses understand how visitors perceive their site's content and how to structure it so that it's easy to find information.ĭuring a card sorting test, participants are presented with a list of topics and are asked to organize them in a way that makes sense. In this post, we'll explain everything you need to know about card sorting, including what it is, how to conduct it, and some of the most notable tools available for your business.Ĭard sorting is a form of user testing where participants categorize items into groups using cards or labels.
A card sorting test is ideal for learning about these preferences because it helps you understand how customers perceive the content on your website. To do this, you'll need to collect feedback from your customer base and identify some of the common web behaviors of your target audience. Rather than organizing it in a way that's ideal for you, information should be stored in places that make sense to your visitors. When it comes to organizing a website, you should categorize items with your customers' preferences in mind. Not only do you lose these potential sales, but you also create negative experiences that might be shared on social media or a third-party review site. If visitors aren't sure where each link will take them, they'll waste time searching for information that should be easy to find - and many will leave your site before they do. However, how you label your navigation bar plays a major role in how user-friendly your website is. This feature is the gateway to all of your content and provides a roadmap for visitors to navigate your website. One of the most important elements of your website is your navigation bar.