Card sorting template

Design intuitive information architecture through structured card sorting studies that reveal how users naturally organize and categorize content.

What is card sorting?

Card sorting is a user research method that reveals how people naturally group and categorize information. Participants organize content items (represented as cards) into groups that make sense to them, providing insights into mental models and expected information architecture.

This method helps teams move beyond internal assumptions about how content should be organized to understand how users actually think about and expect to find information. Card sorting is particularly valuable for designing navigation systems, content structures, and content categories that align with user expectations rather than organizational hierarchies.

What is this card sorting study template?

This card sorting study template provides complete frameworks for planning, conducting, and analyzing card sorting research that delivers clear information architecture guidance. It includes study design options for different research goals, participant management tools, and comprehensive analysis methods that most teams struggle with.

The template emphasizes digital and remote card sorting approaches, making it practical for distributed teams and participants. Whether you're redesigning an existing information architecture, creating navigation for a new product, or validating content organization decisions, this card sorting study template helps you gather reliable insights that inform design decisions.

Why use this template?

Many teams attempt card sorting without proper structure, leading to unclear results that don't translate into specific design decisions. Without systematic analysis approaches, valuable user insights get lost in complex data that's difficult to interpret and act upon.

Ensure your card sorting studies connect to broader research strategy using our User Research Plan Template and follow up with deeper insights through our Interview Script Template

Common challenges this card sorting study template addresses:

• Card sorting results that don't provide clear design direction
• Difficulty analyzing and interpreting participant groupings
• Stakeholder confusion about how sorting relates to actual navigation design
• Inconsistent methodologies that make results hard to compare

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This template provides:

1) Structured study methodologies – Choose between open, closed, and hybrid approaches based on your specific research needs
2) Comprehensive analysis frameworks – Transform participant groupings into clear patterns and design recommendations
3) Stakeholder communication tools – Present findings in ways that drive information architecture and navigation decisions
4) Remote study optimization – Conduct effective digital card sorting with distributed participants and teams
5) Sample card sets – Pre-built content examples for common B2B SaaS and platform scenarios

How to use this template

Step 1: Define your study objectives: Clarify what information architecture decisions your card sorting will inform. Determine whether you need to explore user mental models (open sorting), validate existing categories (closed sorting), or refine proposed structures (hybrid sorting).

Step 2: Prepare your card set and study design: Create content cards that represent the information users need to organize. Select the appropriate sorting methodology and digital tools for remote participant collaboration. Plan participant recruitment based on your target user segments.

Step 3: Recruit and brief participants: Identify users who represent your target audience and understand the content domain. Provide clear instructions that encourage natural grouping behavior without biasing toward expected organizational structures.

Step 4: Facilitate sorting sessions: Guide participants through the sorting process while observing their decision-making approaches. Capture both final groupings and the reasoning behind categorization choices for richer analysis.

Step 5: Analyze patterns and derive insights: Use the provided analysis frameworks to identify common grouping patterns, outlier categories, and content items that consistently challenge participants. Transform these patterns into specific information architecture recommendations.

Step 6: Present findings and recommendations: Create stakeholder-ready summaries that connect sorting insights to specific navigation and content organization decisions. Include visual representations that make user mental models clear to design and development teams.

Key study types included

1) Open card sorting: Exploratory method where participants create their own category names and groupings, revealing natural mental models and unexpected content relationships. Best for early-stage information architecture exploration and understanding user conceptual frameworks.

2) Closed card sorting: Validation method where participants sort content into predefined categories, testing whether proposed navigation structures align with user expectations. Ideal for evaluating existing information architectures or validating design concepts.

3) Hybrid card sorting: Flexible approach that allows participants to use existing categories or create new ones as needed, balancing structure with discovery. Perfect for refining information architectures and identifying category gaps or overlaps.

4) Tree testing preparation: Card sorting methodology specifically designed to inform hierarchical navigation testing, ensuring sorted categories translate effectively into testable tree structures for validation studies.

5) Competitive architecture analysis: Comparative card sorting that explores how users expect content to be organized relative to existing solutions, identifying opportunities for improved information architecture differentiation.

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Get started with structured card sorting, create information architecture that matches how users actually think and organize content.

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