Card Sorting & Tree Testing

Summary

Card sorting asks users to group content into categories that make sense to them (informing structure); tree testing checks whether an existing structure lets users find things — complementary methods for information architecture decisions.

• 1Run an open card sort with 3-5 people on a set of content or features from a real product.
• 2Learn the difference between open card sorting (users create categories) and closed (categories given).
• 3Practice a tree test on an existing app's navigation to see where users get lost.