Reference eligibility: eligible — Institutional or method-author operating guidance documents this procedure; no tool-seller customer-success claim is admitted.
This is a retained audit record, not an eligible reference example. Inspect source eligibility.
design/research / comm-16
NN/g open card sorting
Participants group content items to reveal how they organize a domain.
documented-procedure · conventional-workflow · Source account, not a validated implementation
What goes in
- Content labels
- Participant explanations
What comes out
- Groupings
- Candidate category labels
Documented sequence
Order described in the source account; not a sequence between pattern families.
- Prepare understandable content cards
- Pilot the set
- Recruit appropriate participants
- Explain sorting rules
- Let participants group cards and explain choices
- Name groups after forming them
- Compare patterns
Checks described
- Avoid shared wording that mechanically cues grouping
- Pilot clarity
What changes with context
- Card sorting explores mental organization; guide prefers tree testing for validating navigation
- Unknown cards can remain aside
- Participants may revise groups
Shared patterns · provisional interpretation
-
Investigate needs through inquiry
Uncertain needs or situation → questions, responses, and a progressively clarified account
Fit: direct. Exploratory analyst coding of collected source summaries; not independently tested
Could this transfer?
Hypothetical: a support team could learn how customers group help topics before redesigning a help centre.
Limit: A plausible taxonomy is not proof that users can find items within a finished navigation interface.
Evidence limits and unknowns
Summary through context_constraints paraphrase source-backed mechanics. structural_motifs, candidate_midlevel_pattern, transfer_example_explicitly_hypothetical and transfer_limit are analyst interpretations, not tested findings.
- Specific dataset and resulting taxonomy
- Implementation effects
Source eligibility and effectiveness
Allowed use: process reference with explicit limits . Source eligibility is not proof of effectiveness, safety or transferability.
Review attribution: AI-assisted source review · 2026-10-18T03:26:44.526806+00:00.
- Eligibility, where granted, permits a process reference only; it is not proof of usefulness, causal effectiveness, safety, or transferability.
- No workflow software executed, no video playback independently observed, and no outcomes independently measured by this audit.
- Specific dataset and resulting taxonomy
- Implementation effects
- A plausible taxonomy is not proof that users can find items within a finished navigation interface.
Source and dates
Card Sorting: Uncover Users' Mental Models ↗ · Expert-authored method procedure
- Published
- 2024-02-02
- Updated
- Unknown
- Checked (UTC)
- 2026-10-18T03:01:00Z
Author/title block displays February 2, 2024 and 2024-02-02. Recorded as displayed publication date; no separate update date found.
verified displayed publication date · Date evidence ↗