Card Sorting as Collaborative Usability Method for User-Driven Information Organizing on a Website - Recommendations for Running Collaborative Group Card Sorts in Practice

Sep 30, 2026

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Card sorting is an easy-to-use, quick, inexpensive yet powerful usability method for structuring information on websites by eliciting end-users’ expectations for where content should be found. When executed collaboratively, group discussion about card content and relationships offers insights into users’ mental models, especially through epistemic asymmetry. The article shows that representative results require careful attention by the test manager to group composition, including users per group, educational level, and formal organizational positions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Card sorting as a method

Collaborative group card sorting and discussion

Epistemic asymmetry and outcome factors

Purpose and recommendations

Issue no. 4 | May 1st 2015 Card Sorting as Collaborative Usability Method for User-Driven Information Organizing on a Website Recommendations for Running Collaborative Group Card Sorts in Practice Maria Friis Bjerre (74-87) Article URL: [http://ojs.statsbiblioteket.dk/index.php/claw/article/view/20773](http://ojs.statsbiblioteket.dk/index.php/claw/article/view/20773) Subscribe: [http://ojs.statsbiblioteket.dk/index.php/claw/notification/subscribeMailList](http://ojs.statsbiblioteket.dk/index.php/claw/notification/subscribeMailList) Archives: [http://ojs.statsbiblioteket.dk/index.php/claw/issue/archive](http://ojs.statsbiblioteket.dk/index.php/claw/issue/archive) Publishing: [http://ojs.statsbiblioteket.dk/index.php/claw/about/submissions\#onlineSubmissions](http://ojs.statsbiblioteket.dk/index.php/claw/about/submissions#onlineSubmissions) Contact: [http://ojs.statsbiblioteket.dk/index.php/claw/about/contact](http://ojs.statsbiblioteket.dk/index.php/claw/about/contact) | Bridging Theory and Practice | [http://ojs.statsbiblioteket.dk/index.php/claw](http://ojs.statsbiblioteket.dk/index.php/claw) Issue no. 4 C ommunication & Language at Work Card Sorting as Collaborative Usability Method for User-Driven Information Organizing on a Website Recommendations for Running Collaborative Group Card Sorts in Practice Maria Friis Bjerre MScIT (Web communication) Web Consultant at Central Denmark Region Abstract Card sorting is an easy-to-use, quick, inexpensive, yet powerful usability method for information organizing on a website as it generates usable input directly from end-users as to how they would expect to find information on a website. When run collaboratively in groups, the discussion between the users about the content of the cards and their relatedness provides valuable insight into the users’mental models. Focusing on epistemic asymmetry in the group discussion, this article highlights important issues which may affect the outcome of group card sorting. It is demonstrated that group card sorting demands great attention from the test manager in relation to the composition of the group, i.e. the number of users per group and the users’educational level and formal organizational positions, in order to ensure a result that is representative of the group as a whole. Introduction At some point in time, many of us have come across a website on which we had difficulties finding the information we were looking for because the organizing, grouping, and labeling of the content and navigation menus did not make sense to us. The structure of the website could, however, fairly quickly and easily have been improved by means of the card sorting method. Within usability, web design, and information architecture, the card sorting method is designed to generate a structure for information and navigation of a website by uncovering how its end-users would expect to find content on the website. The card sorting method is a common, easy-to-use usability method that can be used by anyone, practitioners as well as persons with no formal prerequisites for running user tests, who Issue no. 4 C ommunication & Language at Work needs to organize information on any website in order to help create, validate, or improve its information structure (e.g. Spencer 2009) . This article is based on my Master’s thesis from the Department of Design and Communication, University of Southern Denmark on “Card sorting as a method for non-professional test managers for user–driven information organizing on a website”(Bjerre 2013) . In my study, I observed and analyzed how three card sorting sessions for the website [www.videreuddannelsen-nord.dk](www.videreuddannelsen-nord.dk) (Videreuddannelsesregion Nord) - the website for the Postgraduate Medical Training Program in the Northern Region of Denmark - were run collaboratively in groups of three to five users. The users were actual end-users of the website a

FAQs

What is card sorting used for in web usability?

Card sorting is used to generate a structure for information and navigation on a website by revealing how end-users expect to find content.

How does collaborative card sorting differ from individual card sorting?

Individual sorting identifies similarities and differences across users’ mental models, while group sorting produces discussion and debate about how users understand card content and relationships.

Why is epistemic asymmetry important in group card sorting?

The article highlights epistemic asymmetry in group discussion as a key issue that may affect the outcome of group card sorting.

Sep 30, 2026

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