Card Sorting UX: The Simple Method Behind Smarter Website Navigation

When users land on your website, their ability to find information quickly can make or break their experience. That’s where card sorting comes in — a straightforward yet powerful research method that gives you direct access to how users mentally organize content.

Card sorting helps you build navigation that isn’t just usable, it’s intuitive. Whether you’re launching a brand-new site or refining an existing one, it can guide you toward structure that aligns with your audience’s expectations.

What Is Card Sorting, Really?

At its core, card sorting is a UX research technique that uncovers how people categorize and label content. Participants are given “cards”, each representing a feature, topic, or content area, and are asked to group them in a way that feels logical to them.

It’s a method grounded in understanding user mental models, and it’s especially useful when designing information architecture (IA) that users can actually navigate without confusion.

There are three main types:

• Open Card Sorting: Users create their own groupings and labels. This is perfect for uncovering natural, user-first categorization.
• Closed Card Sorting: Users place cards into…