Card sorting donna spencer pdf

Getting started with card sorting with donna spencer card sorting is one of the best ways to better understand how. Designing usable categories kindle edition by spencer, donna. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read. Youll find great examples and more detailed explanations to these questions and other card sorting related issues in the book. Designing usable categories from rosenfeld media in your library. So i built a real cooccurrence matrix that works with any of donna spencers card sort analysis spreadsheets. Theres card sorting, and then, theres card sorting. Donna spencer is a freelance user experience designer who specialises in large, messy websites, and large, messy business applications. Designing usable categories by donna spencer optimal workshop.

Card sorting is a great, reliable, inexpensive method for finding patterns in how users would expect to find content or functionality. Card sorting is one of the best ways to better understand how your users think the information on your website should be grouped. Whether youve loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new books that are right for them. Apr 07, 2004 card sorting is a simple usercentered technique for obtaining insight into the structure of a site. May, 2010 a method to enhance needs analysis interviewing and prioritise needs.

Six ways to run closed card sorts like a boss optimal. I had my first card sorting session today with four groups of people its actually something the author of the book advises not to do and it went unbelievebly well. I specialise in ia and card sorting happens to be one of those things in ia, and i. Card sorting as youve described it is the core of card sorting is used for creating or developing structures, even i guess when youre doing analysis of data from user needs analysis or usability testing or whatever you are essentially creating a structure of some sort. Designing usable categories, donna spencer shows you how to plan and run a card sort. Card sorting isbn 9781933820026 pdf epub donna spencer. The instructions and spreadsheet are completely free for you to use however you wish. Card sort analysis spreadsheet about the spreadsheet i have an excel spreadsheet that i use to analyze data from physical card sorting activities although it is most useful for analysis, i also use it to print out physical cards.

Card sorting is a method used to help design and evaluate the information. The cooccurrence matrix spreadsheets work with donna spencers card sort analysis spreadsheets by linking to the named lists and worksheets in them. Maadmob is a small australian freelanceconsulting design studio, run by donna spencer, specialising in service design, product design and user experience design. You can use card sorting results to group and label your website information in a way that makes the most sense to your audience. If you have ever had to do a card sort, you will want to have donna spencer s card sorting. In a card sorting session, participants organize topics into categories that make sense to them and they may also help you label these groups. This definitive guide to card sorting includes detailed instructions on how to execute and analyze a sort, plus helpful hints to improve your sorts. You run an open card sort to generate category labels, and then you test the effectiveness of these labels by getting people to place your content in the categories. Can you tell us a little about the variations in the technique.

By using card sort results to inform your designs, you can create websites or products that are intuitive and easy to navigate. Card sorting is a wellestablished research technique for discovering how people understand and categorize information. Card sorting by donna spencer overdrive rakuten overdrive. Donna spencer runs through the basics of this method. For advanced information architects, this book may be a little too basic, but for anyone looking to get started, this has all the information you need. Get an indepth introduction to card sorting, a ux research technique that helps you understand how users categorize information. Card sorting 1st edition by spencer, donna and publisher rosenfeld media. Save up to 80% by choosing the etextbook option for isbn. Shes a regular conference speaker and article author. Card sorting is a method used to help design or evaluate the information architecture of a site. I recently attended a webinar presented by information architect and card sorting guru donna spencer entitled designing usable categories with card sorting.

Card sorting is an effective, easytouse method for understanding how people think about content and categories. Card sorting is a design and usability method that allows to come up with an information architecture ia for a site according to donna spencer and todd warfel, card sorting is a quick, inexpensive, and reliable method, which serves as input into your information design process. Card sort analysis spreadsheet instructions pdf, 2mb card sort analysis spreadsheet template for 40 participants zip, 2mb card sorting book. To find out more about how to set up the room and what to say to participants in a moderated card sort, check out donna spencer s definitive guide to card sorting and read the content under the heading execution. You can learn the vocabulary surrounding card sorting in our complete beginners guide to design research or checkout donna spencer and todd warfels card sorting. Dec 22, 2007 the instructions and spreadsheet are completely free for you to use however you wish. For more discussion on card sorting, see donna spencers card sorting 2009.

Designing usable categories, card sort analysis spreadsheet posted by donna spencer, june 7, 2007. To conduct a card sort, you can use actual cards, pieces of paper, or one of several online card sorting. Through the years, some of the same questions kept popping up over and over again, and theyre what donna calls the faq of ia. Nov 19, 2015 cardsorting blog, donna spencer, rosenfeld a compilation of cardsorting resources curated by the definitive expert in the method in search of excellence. Card sorting donna spencer pdf download card sorting helps us understand how people think about content and categories. It helps you create information that is easy to find and understand. Armed with this knowledge, we can group information so that people can better find and understand it. Donna spencers guide for information architecture is exactly what it says. As such, i do most of my exploratory analysis using spreadsheets. I wrote our content on cards sticky notes and our team shuffled it around to create the ia. Card sorting is a great, reliable, inexpensive method for finding patterns in how users would expect to find content or. Card sorting an effective, easytouse method for understanding how people think about content and categories. I specialise in ia and card sorting happens to be one of those things in ia, and i was just the person who kept.

It is the first in a series of articles about card sorting. Donnas a service designer and user experience designer who specialises in complex services and systems. Getting started with card sorting with donna spencer duration. It is a useful approach for designing information architecture, workflows, menu structure, or web site navigation paths.

Card sorting is a simple usercentered technique for obtaining insight into the structure of a site. Designing healthcare apps with delight smashing magazine. Weve made card sorting even easier with optimalsort the online card sorting tool preferred by information architects, web designers and content writers the world over. Announcing a cooccurrence matrix for donna spencers card. Designing usable categories 1st first edition paperback by free pdf d0wnl0ad, audio books, books to read, good books to read, cheap books, good books, online books, books. Choosing which version of the cooccurrence matrix spreadsheet to use. But what about card sorting for evaluation purposes. A quick word on how closed card sorting is different to open card sorting. Jesse james garrett card sorting is an effective, easytouse method for understanding how people think about content and categories. Donna spencer card sorting designing usable categories. Donna spencer and todd warfel posted on april 7, 2004. Designing usable categories, donna spencer shows you how to plan and run a card sort, analyze the results, and apply the outcomes to your. Mostly used for online card sorting, but thanks to printable cards pdf feature you. In card sorting donna spencer shows you how to plan and run a card sort, analyze the results, and apply the outcomes to your projects from the back cover.

If youre new to card sorting, this blog is a good starting point. Designing usable categories book is not really ordinary book, you have it then the world is in your hands. Designing usable categories downloads from the book get bonus materials and examples to download, including a contract examples, personas, and more. On this day, all over the world, people will come together and focus on how information architecture impacts design and. If youre new to card sorting, check out this excellent article, or donnas excellent book. A practical guide to information architecture ux mastery. Combining usability tools for better web site design. Top ten card sort technique training needs analysis youtube. The benefit you get by reading this book is actually information inside. The influence of peter cooper on qualitative research pdf, alan branthwaite and simon patterson, international journal of market research, volume 54, issue 5 an indepth analysis. Spencers book is the definitive guide on how to perform a card sort, especially in various strategies outlined for each stage of a card sort project. An experimental study of some of the conditions of mental.

Card sorting from the the encyclopedia of humancomputer interaction provides a comprehensive background to this popular method. If you have ever had to do a card sort, you will want to have donna spencers card sorting. Read card sorting by donna spencer for free with a 30 day free trial. Thats a fancy way of saying she plans how to present the things you see on your computer screen, so that theyre easy to understand, engaging and compelling. Card sorting 1st edition 9781933820026, 9781933820071. Designing usable categories by by donna spencer this card sorting. Closed card sorting has sometimes been used to validate an information architecture, like so. Card sorting has traditionally been used to help design or evaluate the organization of websites. In her book, donna shows how to plan and run a card sort, analyze the results, and apply the outcomes to your projects. In 2003, donna spencer wrote about a technique she had created for evaluating a taxonomy outside its user interface. Jun 24, 2014 donna spencer is a freelance user experience designer who specialises in large, messy websites, and large, messy business applications. The cooccurrence matrix spreadsheets work with donna spencer s card sort analysis spreadsheets by linking to the named lists and worksheets in them.

The book is essentially a checklist for ias, along with an overview of how ia and ux work together. Card sorting is considered the traditional route for testing taxonomies and its worth taking a look at how card sorting is performed before moving beyond it. We started our lunch with a brief chat about donna spencer s card sorting. Card sort analysis spreadsheet instructions pdf, 2mb. Complete beginners guide to information architecture ux booth. Card sorting helps us understand how people think about content and categories. 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. Card sorting designing usable categories 1st edition by donna spencer and publisher rosenfeld media. Card sorting is a quick and easy way to design an information architecture, workflow, menu structure or website navigation paths.

Card sorting blog, donna spencer, rosenfeld a compilation of card sorting resources curated by the definitive expert in the method in search of excellence. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. 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 wcard sorting. Thats just pushing content ideas around a table with your colleagues. Read unlimited books and audiobooks on the web, ipad, iphone and android. In an open card sort, participants create and label their own groups of cards. A few months back, i had lunch with some colleagues adam polansky and stephen thomas. One of the variants that people sometimes do is a card sort with their team, not users.

Card sorting is a technique in user experience design in which a person tests a group of subject experts or users to generate a dendrogram category tree or folksonomy. Card sorting by donna spencer book read online scribd. I have well over 20 years professional experience designing complex systems and services for a large range of clients across many industries. Designing usable categories 1st by donna spencer isbn. Anyway, spencer s book is refreshing in its stepbystep approach to card sorting. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading card sorting. These frequently asked questions are found in donna spencer s book, card sorting designing usable categories. Read pdf constitution card sort matrix questions answers national constitution center. She was also conference owner and manager of ux australia, an annual user experience conference. Run a moderated card sort with optimalsort optimal workshop. Donna spencer explains that at its core, card sorting is a pretty simple. You might have a file from an online sorting tool, a set of.

The results gave us grounds for proceeding with the card sort exercise. You know, i dont know if i have a specialisation in card sorting. Donna is a freelance information architect, interaction designer and writer. It helps you create information that easy to find and understand. Open card sorts are particularly difficult to analyze because they produce a variety of content structures.

She has written three books, on card sorting, web writing, and information architecture. As an information architect, donna spencer often gets asks a million and one questions about what she does and how she does it. Aside from the references listed below and particularly donna spencers on card sorting spencer 2009, there are a number of helpful web resources. Apr 05, 2009 card sorting is an effective, easytouse method for understanding how people think about content and categories. Designing usable categories 1st first edition paperback by for online ebook. Getting started with card sorting with donna spencer youtube. Card sorting the encyclopedia of humancomputer interaction.

That took me a bit off my blog posting cadence, but i think its worth it. Comparing user research methods for information architecture. In this book, donna describes how to plan and run a card sort, then analyse the results and apply the outcomes. Most of my card sorts are somewhat complex and have many participants. Data was entered into an analysis spreadsheet provided from the rosenfeld media web site, card sorting. Donna has supplied two versions of the card sort analysis spreadsheets. The spreadsheet does not collect the card sorting datait is purely for analysis of data collected with physical. If youre interested in learning more tips for running effective card sorting sessions, i highly recommend reading the book card sorting.