Where to start to create cards sorting (Information Architecture)

Hi everyone,

recently I’ve watched an online course about information architecture (lynda.com) and I was stuck when it comes to find tasks to put in the cards for new projects. How to get theses informations when we haven’t yet a content audit to work with.

Thank you :slight_smile:

Hi @m_buzyarsest ,

I think the best explanation for this can be found in Donna Spencer’s book on Card Sorting http://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/card-sorting/ . Depending on the size of the site aim for between 40 - 100 cards - more than that becomes burdensome for participants.
The card content should be key information and tasks for the user e.g. in a university you might have a card that says ‘Information about how to enrol in a Bachelor of Engineering’. I purposefully add in cards that may be the same but worded differently to see how people interpret this. I get to these topics by either browsing the top three levels of the current site or following a Discovery workshop or user research that tells me what the top tasks are for the site. You will have to work with the stakeholders to understand what content may not be present in the new site.
In a bottom up sort, the participants are coming up with the category names. In a top down, you will give them preset categories that they have to sort the cards into.

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Thank you,
I’m buying the book right now :slight_smile:

it’s a interesting book. I hope I’ll find what I need.

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