Card sorting overview
Card sorting reveals how people mentally organize your content. Participants group cards into categories, helping you validate navigation labels, menu structures, and naming before touching production interfaces.
When to run a card sort
Run this test when you need to understand how customers expect to find information. Card sorting is ideal before redesigning a navigation menu, restructuring documentation, or naming new features.
What participants do
- Read the prompt describing the scenario.
- Drag cards into categories you provide (or ones they create).
- Optionally explain their reasoning or skip cards that do not fit.
What you learn
- Which group labels feel natural versus confusing.
- Where people disagree about a card's placement.
- New wording ideas that come directly from your audience.
Tips for analyzing results
Look at agreement percentages to understand confidence. If cards land in the same category more than 60% of the time, that grouping is probably safe. Focus on the outliers when planning copy or structure changes.