A research method used to discover how users understand and categorize information, helping you build intuitive navigation and architecture.
Participants organize topics into groups that make sense to them and then name each group. Best for discovering new categorization schemes.
Participants sort topics into pre-defined categories. Best for validating existing structures or testing fixed categories.
Participants sort into pre-defined categories but can create new ones if the existing labels don't fit.
Create a list of 30-50 items (content topics, features, or products). Write each on a card (physical or digital).
Explain that there are no wrong answers. You want to understand how they think the content should be organized.
Ask them to group the cards. If doing an open sort, ask them to label the groups once finished.
Ask questions about their choices. "Why did you put X with Y?" "Was any item difficult to place?"