Card Sorting - A Way to Design Layout

In class we do tons of class activities. These are really great because we get to practice the concepts we are leaning helping to cement them in our minds and giving us a deeper understanding of the processes we are learning about. Recently, we did a card sorting activity. The idea here is to put each individual component that will be part of the whole onto and index card or electronic version of an index card.
 

So far it sounds a lot like the affinity diagrams, right? The difference is the cards are created by the research team while the sticky notes are created by the subjects themselves. There are many variations to do a card sorting activity. They can be open (participants are free to make any categories and connections they want), or closed (a predetermined framework is given to participants.) As stated before, this can be done with real cards, or electronically. Electronic versions allow for remote participation.

As for the in class activity, the order achieved by the participants in our group closely matched the layout from the website we based our cards on. This shows that the company must have done something right in creating their website. Hooray Them!!!