[Sigia-l] card sorting: dealing with multiple placements

[Boniface Lau]

> From: sigia-l-admin at asis.org [mailto:sigia-l-admin at asis.org]On
> Behalf Of Eric Scheid
> 
>  
> On 2/6/03 9:28 AM, "Boniface Lau" <boniface_lau at compuserve.com> wrote:
> 
> >> At the beginning of a card sort there are *no* "certain
> >> locations".
> > 
> > I am not sure what you meant by "no certain locations".
> 
> predetermined, known before hand...
> 
> If I gave a stack of items to a user and asked them to sort them
> into groups, I cannot be certain there would be certain specific
> categories. Users are like that sometimes.

Yes. That is fine. Thus, when they place the first item of a group,
they can place it anywhere in which there is not already a group. But
once they find a spot for that group they have established some kind
of an order. And they have to come back to that spot when they want to
add another item to that same group. Coming back is observing the
order.


[...]
> 
> I'd dispute your contention that order (sequence) must be observed
> (obeyed).

I am not sure what you meant by that. 


> Users do indeed need to be mindful of just where their little stacks of
> cards are physically on the table so as to add more cards to those
> stacks

Exactly.


[...]
> 
> Actually, expecting or looking for a sequence is itself misleading,
> as the card stacks are usually arranged in a two dimensional space,
> not one dimensional sequence.

Order does not necessary mean one dimensional space. Order is simply
moving from one to the next. People can use whatever means or criteria
to determine what should be the next item.


Boniface