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Case studies
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- Jul 2009. Card sorting for NTEN: Behind the scenes
- Sep 2008. Drupal.org – what we learned from the card sort
- Jun 2008. Conducting a card sort
- Eurostar Card Sorting Case Study—Etre
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If you have a case study you would like me to add to this page, please let me know.
Eurostar Card Sorting Case Study
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Eurostar Card Sorting Case Study
In September 2005, our company—Etre—was engaged by Eurostar to help redevelop its global web presence. Eurostar is the high-speed train service that connects the UK with mainland Europe and has been named “World’s Leading Rail Service” at the World Travel Awards every year since 1998.
The project was extremely ambitious in nature—the main objectives being to make significant improvements to the usability of the company’s various websites; to introduce a host of new travel booking features; and to incorporate a new global brand identity—in a timeframe of just six months.
An important part of the programme involved assisting Eurostar in redesigning its global information architecture—a taxonomy that serves not only as the backbone of the company’s main website, www.eurostar.com, but as a template for the company’s 27 country- and region-specific websites too. In order to ensure that the redesigned version was as user-friendly as possible, we decided to make card sorting an integral part of the redevelopment process.
Card Sorting: Mistakes Made and Lessons Learned
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UX Matters have a new article on card sorting, by Sam Ng: Card Sorting: Mistakes Made and Lessons Learned.
It is a great article, not about how to do card sorting, but about different situations in which Sam has applied card sorting and clients’ expectations of it.
Online sorter boosts usability
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Card sorting has made it into Computerworld: Online sorter boosts usability
Congratulations to the guys at Optimal Usability.
An interview with me
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I had a chat with Sam Ng from Optimal Usability recently about – get this – card sorting. Here it is – it turned out pretty well:
An interview with a card sorting proParticipate in a card sort?
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I mentioned last week that there is a new card sorting tool available called OptimalSort.
I’ve set up a card sort and would love you to participate – give you a chance to play with the tool. The card sort is for the IA Summit and the content is conference presentations. I used this content to test other software tools last year.
If you can spare some time (15 minutes or so), please go here and do the card sort:
The fine print:
- I recently did some work on this tool but don’t have an ongoing interest in it (except that I’m friends with the people who do)
- I may use example outputs in my book
- I will use the activity outputs as input to the IA Summit website, which I manage
- I will not disclose your name, email address or other identifying details in the book
- I won’t use your personal details for anything other than this activity
- The card sort will be open until 15 July 2007
- I tested other tools last year using this same content set and a call for volunteers
A new card sorting tool
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My friends at Optimal Usability have released their brand-spanking new card sorting tool into beta release (it’s free until August).
Their tool, called OptimalSort, caters for open and closed card sorts. The sorting interface is a spatial drag-and-drop.
The thing I like best (and I will fully disclose that I was involved in this, so I should like it) is the analysis options. No stinkin dendrograms here, but lists of category names, detailed participant results and lots of ways to explore the data.
Go try OptimalSort.
A new article on card sorting
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Digital Web have a new article on card sorting, by Ruth Stalker-Firth: Anyone for a game of cards
I really am a morning person
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Last year I talked to many authors about different aspects of writing. I talked to Dan Saffer about how he managed to write his book while working a full-time job. He told me he wrote for an hour every morning before doing anything else (I hope I have this right Dan).
So given I’m a morning person and have had trouble assigning full days (paid & community work jumps in) I thought I’d try this out. (Oh, I should also tell you that I don’t mind coming home and having nice dinner and a glass or two of nice wine which doesn’t make for doing anything useful)
Last week I woke up early four days (and went to bed early on corresponding nights). I worked on easy things last week – documentation for an analysis tool I’ll make public soon.
But this morning I woke up and wrote. I made a cup of tea (organic, fair trade – have to do routine right) and sat down to write. An hour and thousand decent words later I stopped. Cool! This may just work.
Yes, I am working on it
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I posted a few months ago and said I’d be getting back into the book after the IA Summit was over. Well, that promise has come true and I am writing again. It is interesting looking at a manuscript after a few months of not seeing it at all. I can easily spot problems I hadn’t noticed before.
All RM books now have a tiny notification form – if you’d like to know when the book is released, please go and fill out the card sorting book notification form.