Card Sorts

When to do a card sort?

Research Insights can tell you what to research next. 


I was recently working on a client product. Where we found the 6 out of 10 participants and 2 out of 4 participants from 2 different usability studies were having trouble finding the link to get their task started. They would click around on all kinds of links hoping it would get them to their desired place so they can quickly finish their intended task.

This led me to believe we needed to understand how the majority of our users' mental models made them think about how tasks were grouped into categories and what they would name those categories. 

So this one use case where card sorts are effective. 

The card sort study was able to help us redesign the navigation for the client that matches the way users think about the tasks and categories. 


Green Field Products: Another use case for card sorts is more obvious. 


When your designing a new product from scratch that does not exist yet. It will be helpful to understand how users group and label categories of information so you know how to organize the information in the navigation and in the design itself. 


Examples of Research Insights


Research insights might show you that user group tasks based on how often they would do them (frequency), how urgent they are when they need them (importance) or just that they like grouping similar tasks together.  


Online Tool


I recommend using Optimal Sort. https://www.optimalworkshop.com/optimalsort

It was easy to use and it will only cost you $99 per study. 


Vanity Metrics - Don't be deceived by them

Stopping relying on Vanity Metrics to improve your digital product because you will be making uninformed decisions.

If your a UX designer and work for a large corporation or any company, you may have noticed the lack of quality analytics. Technical debt and legacy systems make it hard for companies to stop using Vanity Metrics.

What are vanity metrics?

Vanity metrics are numbers that don't track a conversion that makes your company money. Here are some examples:
  • Page views
  • Link clicks

Why are these vanity metrics?

  • These metrics don't tell us why customers are going to pages or clicking on links. For example, customer my click on links because they are looking for something and can't find it. 
  • If the links or button clicks your tracking are not the ones that make your company revenue on your website, why are you tracking them at all?
Business people please stop using Vanity Metrics. Leaders remove technical debt, legacy systems and processes that prevent your team from tracking actionable metrics that actually track flows and conversions on your digital product that produce revenue.


What should your analytics track?

They should track flows from where the user starts their journey to get to your digital product to what path they take step by step to do an action that makes your company money. 

Track the highest revenue conversions first, do qualitative 1 on 1 interviews and usability testing with participants so you can take that research and improve the conversions on your digital product that makes your company the most money.

Then move to less profitable conversions if you have time and budget for them. 

Defining the Happy Path for your software

It is always best to do 1-on-1 qualitative interviews and usability tests with your actual customers or with people who represent your customer persona(s) or that are your target persona(s). Find the common themes of behavior, mental model, needs and challenges. Then make a target persona out of the research. Your qualitative research and usability tests should define what the "Happy Path" is for each flow in your software application for your customers and your target customer(s) or persona(s).

Lean Hypothesis Writing

  1. We believe that...
  2. We will do/make...
  3. We will know if the hypothesis is valid if...

  • Qualitative Evidence
  • Quantitative Evidence

Example:
We believe that Tom (Tom is one of your personas) prefers to use his Social Security Number to authenticate his identity in order to register for his online banking app.

We will make a registration process prototype where Tom has several options to verify his identity in order to register for his banking app. One of those options should be SSN. We will do usability tests using our prototype with 5 participants who represent our target persona.

We will know if it is valid if Tom chooses to use his SSN instead of the other options presented to him to register for his banking app and communicates that he likes or prefers using his SSN.

Mental Models

What is a mental model?

First of all, why do mental models matter?

Creating something that is intuitive for your target persona or customer to use has to do with how well what you make matches their mental model. 

It is a representation or a picture that lives inside an individual of something in the real world. This representation or picture is the total of what a human being believes about a situation or object.

 

This includes, but is not limited to:

  • How something functions
  • How it is organized
  • Hearsay about the situation or object
  • All their experiences with the situation or object (even a similar situation or object)

Why do humans automatically make mental models of everything in life? Because if the model is accurate, it can save us time when deciding how to behave in life situations, events or how to use an object we need to accomplish a task.

Collaborative Sketching

Crazy 8’s Design Sketching

Product Owner, Product Manager, Designer and Developers do this activity together

Include your whole team in the design process to ensure everyone has their ideas heard and the team can make sure they have created the best design solutions for their target persona. 

 

http://www.fastcodesign.com/1672917/the-8-steps-to-creating-a-great-storyboard

User Value vs. Feasibility

2 X 2 Prioritizing 

User Value vs. Feasibility

Product Owner, Product Manager, Developers and Designer do this activity together

Place your epics, user stories, features or user tasks on sticky notes and place them on this 2 x 2 prioritizing board. This will get you a quick visual snapshot of what you should work on that will have the greatest impact on your customers or potential customers and how much work your developers will have to do to accomplish that user value.

Interviewing Participants for Qualitative Research

Facilitating Temperament

  • Personable
  • Be Patient
  • A combination of sociability and self-awareness

Facilitating Skills

  • Warm the participant up with small talk
  • Then dispassionately observe the participant use the design with no idea what to do next
  • Self control not to intervene to help the participant with the task or lead them during the test
  • Explaining each scenario and task clearly to participants

When the Facilitator is the Designer, Product Manager, Developer, Product Owner or Stakeholder of the design being tested.

Be aware of whether the facilitator is:

  • able to sit there idly when the participant has trouble accomplishing a task or can’t accomplish it at all
  • able to not give small hints and leading questions to the participant during the session
  • able to avoid leading the participant
  • able to not help them when they get lost or stuck
  • able to embrace uncomfortable silences
  • able to listen to their own interview recording and give themselves constructive feedback
  • able to have other facilitators listen to their interview recordings and receive constructive feedback from them

User Value Vs Business Value

2 X 2 Prioritizing 

User Value vs. Business Value

Product Owner, Product Manager and Designer do this activity together

Place your epics, user stories, features or user tasks on sticky notes and place them on this 2 x 2 prioritizing board. This will get you a quick visual snapshot of what you should work on that will have the greatest impact on your customers or potential customers and drive the most business growth.