Card Sorting Study for a Business-to-Business Web Application
Background
Our client had an idea for a web and mobile application that helped professionals in the business-to-business market. They wanted to research and design a minimum viable product (MVP) that communicated the value of their product to their target end users.
This case study summarizes the card sort study that I worked on for this project. I worked with three UX designers for the end-to-end process of the project. This client project was completed under a UX program.
Research Goal
To understand what traits and factors people rank as priority when it comes to building a business relationship with someone and how they categorize the different traits and factors.
Methods and Tools
Index Cards and markers for card sorting.
Method
I wrote a research plan and moderator script for a moderated, in-person, open card sort. I had three participants each group 24 traits and factors. Then, I had each participant rank their groups from most important to not really care. The traits and factors provided for the study came from ideas that the client wanted to provide through their platform to help people find the right people to help them with their business-to-business goals along with information we had found from secondary research.
I had a team member help to moderate the card sort study. I recorded and took notes during the study.
Photo documentation from card sorting study.
Key Learnings
Based off the groups created by participants, the common themes that occurred were related to work history, work quality, qualifications, feedback/rating, and personality.
Outcome
This research provided insight into how we could organize and structure the search and match filter for the client’s product.
What I Learned
With this card sort study, I learned that the card sorting method is not just for e-commerce and retail products but can also be used to help organize groups of information. With more time, I would have more participants complete this activity to get a better idea of the mental model behind what traits and factors people use to determine if they want to build a business relationship with someone.