It is a useful approach for designing information architecture, workflows, menu structure, or web site navigation paths.
Test subjects, individually or sometimes as a group, then arrange the cards to represent how they see the structure and relationships of the information.
[2] A card sort is commonly undertaken when designing a navigation structure for an environment that offers a variety of content and functions, such as a web site.
Closed sorting is evaluative; it is typically used to judge whether a given set of category names provides an effective way to organize a given collection of content.
This ensures that the structure is evaluated in isolation, nullifying the effects of navigational aids, visual design, and other factors.
Reverse card sorting is evaluative—it judges whether a predetermined hierarchy provides a good way to find information.
The purpose of the analysis is to extract patterns from the population of test subjects, so that a common set of categories and relationships emerges.
The perceived advantage of web-based card sorting is that it reaches a larger group of participants at a lower cost.