[Sigia-l] Card sorting? Why?

[Jonathan Baker-bates]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: sigia-l-bounces at asis.org 
> [mailto:sigia-l-bounces at asis.org] On Behalf Of Stewart Dean
> Sent: 15 November 2005 13:57
> To: sigia-l at asis.org
> Subject: [Sigia-l] Card sorting? Why?
> 
> I'm going to throw this out as I really need to check that 
> I'm not making some dumb mistake here.
> 
> I've been an IA for a good few years now, have sat through 
> presentations on card sorting and still don't get why you 
> would want the users to sort through a series of arbitrary terms.
> 

At the risk of pointing out the obvious, they're not "arbitrary terms."
If you think they are, then I don't blame you for being confused ;-)

My tuppence: Card sorting should be part of a balanced diet. I don't
think anyone's suggesting it should be the only (or even the main)
technique employed in designing a system. 

Jonathan