Blog
7/11/2023
Concept Mapping (or Group concept mapping) is a participatory-based approach that explores how a group of individuals understands a particular issue). This mixed method involves generating, grouping and evaluating ideas.
In this article, we will focus specifically on the idea grouping (or sorting) step.
Card sorting: What’s it all about?
When asking a participant to sort ideas, the objective is to understand how they naturally group various pieces of information. This method, commonly referred to as card sorting, is widely used in user research to, for example, unveil the information architecture of a website.
It is also used in concept mapping, and it is indeed a fundamental step in this approach. By combining card sorting from multiple participants and analyzing them, it becomes possible to gain insight into how they perceive a situation, an issue, a problem, solutions, and more.
What is currently available?
Organizing ideas on a digital platform can be challenging, and sometimes even impossible in certain contexts or for some users. Most existing tools have significant limitations, particularly in terms of accessibility.
Modules that enable this exercise typically rely on a drag-and-drop feature: the user selects an item by clicking on it, drags it to another part of the screen, and drops it by releasing the mouse button. In fact, drag and drop is used for many tasks in everyday digital activities, such as:
- adjusting the width of a spreadsheet column to display more data
- moving a file from one folder to another in a cloud storage application
While drag and drop can make digital tools more versatile, it presents accessibility challenges for participants during the card sorting exercise. The use of alternative input devices, such as voice-activated mouse simulators, doesn’t always facilitate this action. Even with a mouse and keyboard, not everyone possesses the fine motor skills necessary to perform this task easily. Moreover, on small touchscreen mobile devices, which are increasingly popular, drag-and-drop tasks are often difficult, if not impossible.
“Facilitate the participation of all population groups, thereby strengthening the democratic nature of this participatory approach.”
A New Approach to Card Sorting
Based on these observations, Polygon made the decision to develop a new card sorting approach that doesn’t rely on drag-and-drop functionality. The main idea is to have a module that can be used on any screen, with or without the use of a mouse, user-friendly on touchscreens, and compatible with most mouse simulators.
By simplifying the motor and cognitive tasks and reducing friction, we enhanced accessibility, allowing users to concentrate on what truly matters: creating meaningful groups of ideas.
Following multiple rounds of user testing, our team noted that the use of two vertical columns to arrange ideas for sorting, a common practice in drag-and-drop card sorting modules, presented more difficulties for participants than a horizontal spatial arrangement. Additionally, this layout of visual elements made the exercise more user-friendly on smaller screens, such as smartphones.
As a result, we have implemented a carousel navigation that allows users to seamlessly move from one idea to another, whether using a keyboard, a mouse, or a touchscreen. At any time, participants can access the ideas to be grouped, easily select an idea, add it to a group, move it between groups, or create new ones. The created groups and ideas always remain accessible on the screen.
A high contrast colour coding system enables users to assign colours to the groups they create, to help them find their way around. Visual cues show which group an idea belongs to and how many ideas are in a group. Each interaction with the module is reversible, and a feedback system keeps participants informed throughout the exercise.
A Contemporary Approach to Card Sorting
While Card sorting is not a new exercise, the way to effectively conduct it on a digital platform deserved a fresh look. At Polygon, we now offer an intuitive card sorting module that has proven its effectiveness in several studies using concept mapping. For instance, during a live CM* exercise at a conference in Stockholm in 2022, approximately thirty participants were able to group 40 ideas from their cell phones in less than 20 minutes. These real-world experiences confirmed what our user tests had revealed about our approach to card sorting: a high level of user-friendliness, regardless of the participant’s profile or digital proficiency.
We believe that this innovation makes the card sorting exercise more inclusive than most competing solutions. When it comes to data collection, the accessibility of the tools used is essential to promote diversity and representativeness among participants. The integration of this card sorting module into our CM* tool facilitates the participation of all population groups, thereby strengthening the democratic nature of this participatory approach.
Bibliography:
Spencer, Donna (2009). Card Sorting: Designing Usable Categories, 162 Pages, publisher: Rosenfeld Media
Crawshaw Ceara. Drag and Drop UX Best Practices. 2022 Jan. https://pencilandpaper.io/articles/ux-pattern-drag-and-drop
Laubheimer Page. Drag–and–Drop: How to Design for Ease of Use. 2020 Feb. https://www.nngroup.com/articles/drag-drop
Ty Maxey. Drag & Drop. 2020 Jan. https://medium.com/swlh/drag-drop-90f0a88fad98
Noh Grace. Drag and Drop for Design Systems. 2018 Jan. https://uxdesign.cc/drag-and-drop-for-design-systems-8d40502eb26d
Concept Mapping Tool
Participatory research
Recherche participative
Service design
Accessibility
Card sorting
