Validity of the Open Card Sorting Method for Producing Website Information Structures
Maria Ntouvaleti, Christos Katsanos · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems Extended Abstracts · 2022
When it comes to creating website information structures, open card sorting is the main approach used. However, scientific research for the method's validity is lacking. This paper explores the validity of open card sorting for website structural design. To this end, participants first performed an open card sort for the redesign of a website with usability issues in its information structure. Next, a within-subjects user testing study was performed to compare two functional prototypes that differed only in their structure: one replicated the existing website structure, whereas the other implemented the structure produced by card sort data analysis. Results showed that participants using the redesigned structure had significantly better usability metrics (first click success rate, task time, SEQ score and SUS score) compared to when interacting with the existing structure. These findings provide support for the validity of the open card sorting method for the design of website information structures.