We’re excited to announce that Card Sorting, one of the most trusted UX research tools for organizing content, is now available on Userfeel!
This new feature adds another powerful way to understand your users, complementing our existing usability testing methods like surveys, moderated tests, and unmoderated video sessions.
Card Sorting helps you see how real users think about your content, categories, and navigation, so you can build information structures that make sense to them, not just to your team.
In this post, you’ll learn what card sorting is, why it’s a must-have for information architecture testing, and how to use it inside the Userfeel platform.
Card Sorting is a UX method used to uncover how users naturally organize information. Participants are given a list of “cards”, each representing a topic, feature, or page, and asked to group or label them in ways that make sense to them.
In simple terms, it helps you design navigation and categorization that matches real human thinking.
When users can’t find what they’re looking for, it’s often a sign of weak information architecture. Card Sorting addresses this by letting you observe how people logically organize content. This leads to better navigation structures, clearer labels, and faster decision-making for users.
For example, if you run an e-commerce site, you might ask participants to sort “Men’s Shoes,” “Hiking Gear,” and “Running Accessories.” Their choices can reveal if your categories align with customer expectations, or if you’re labeling things in ways users find confusing.
Behind every great user experience is an understanding of how people think. Card Sorting gives you that view, by exposing what researchers call mental models.
Your team might think “Shipping & Returns” belongs under “Customer Service.” But users might consistently place it under “Orders” instead. That tells you their mental model doesn’t match your site’s layout, and that’s a fix worth making.
With closed card sorting, participants sort cards into predefined categories. Great for validating an existing structure.
By combining both types of data, card sorting bridges creative exploration with hard evidence, giving you a balanced foundation for your next information architecture testing project.
At Userfeel, our mission has always been simple: make UX testing accessible, fast, and insightful for everyone, from startups to global enterprises.
Adding card sorting to our platform makes your research toolkit even more complete. Now, you can explore how users think before you test how they behave.
With this update, teams can now run card sorts alongside other usability testing methods, like task-based sessions, surveys, or moderated interviews, all from one place.
No extra tools or learning curves. You can create a card sorting study in minutes and recruit participants from Userfeel’s global tester panel. The results are visualized clearly, helping you see clustering patterns and label preferences at a glance.
In short: faster insights, better structure, and one less research tool to juggle.
Card sorting isn’t just for redesigns, it’s a versatile method that applies to many UX challenges.
If you’re revamping your website, run a card sort early in the process to validate your navigation structure. Let users show you how they expect to find things before you finalize your sitemap.
Editorial teams and knowledge bases can use card sorting to test category labels, article groupings, and tag systems. This helps ensure information is discoverable and logically organized.
In SaaS platforms, card sorting helps you improve feature grouping and menu layouts. If users consistently group “Reports” with “Analytics,” it might be time to reorganize your dashboard.
Pair your card sorting study with tree testing to validate navigation paths, or follow up with usability testing to observe how users interact with your revised structure in real time.
Running a card sorting study on Userfeel is fast, intuitive, and seamlessly integrated with your existing testing workflow.
Your card sorting results integrate with other Userfeel tools like video insights, highlight reels, and transcripts, so you can connect user reasoning with actual test behavior.
Try card sorting today and see your information architecture through your users’ eyes.
Card Sorting is a small step for your research toolkit, but a giant leap for your information architecture testing. By adding this feature, Userfeel now gives UX teams a new way to understand how users think and organize content. Combined with usability testing methods, surveys, and global participant reach, it’s the most complete way to plan, test, and refine your designs.
Log in to Userfeel today and create your first card sorting study. Your users’ mental models are waiting to surprise you.
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