[Sigia-l] Card sorting

[andrew at friendlymanual.com]

Quoting Bill Killam <bkillam at user-centereddesign.com>:

> This is probably the most significant issues with card sort data - card
> sorting is problem based on a bottom up view of data; looking for
> information in a structure is a problem based on a top down view of the same
> data.  And there is not a single structure for any given data set.  There
> are often several possible structures depending on the approach taken.

Hi Bill,

one of the reasons I've used card sorting in the past is a way to discover these
structures when the BA (including myself) has missed them or allocated an
inappropriately low priority to them. Requirements validation is not a core IA
skill but one I have found useful - and the client project teams (usually) love
it.

That and the end user engagement aspect that others have mentioned are two key
reasons why I will continue to use card sorting wherever appropriate.

Heretically, I believe that keeping the project team and the end users happy
about the process is nearly as important in the long run as getting the data
structures right. I do both and they seem to invite me back often enough that I
think I am on to something that works :)

Cheers, Andrew

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