Informing Website Navigation Design with Team-Based Card Sorting

Abstract

In 2016, Utah State University (USU) Libraries redesigned the library website’s main menu and underlying information architecture (IA) in response to a number of known usability problems and limitations. Card sorting studies were conducted with a group of USU undergraduate students and a mixed group of faculty and graduate students to help develop a better understanding of users’ mental models of library-related research and service tasks. Participants worked in teams to sort, rank and label cards pertaining to the content and feature of the library’s website. Afterwards, participants discussed and performed usability tasks on each other’s categories. Results were used to inform the design of a new IA and menu structure, while best practices from usability studies and trends in academic library website design were used to help with menu and link labeling. The final design was validated through follow-up discussions with staff, usability tests, and category/reverse category tests.

Keywords:

• Card sorting
• user studies
• academic libraries
• information architecture
• mental models

Acknowledgments

We thank Erin Davis, Britt Fagerheim, Andrea Krebs and Robert Heaton for their assistance in the design and implementation of this study. We also thank Dustin Olson and Paul O’Donnell for their work in redesigning the USU Libraries’ website menu, and Jennifer Duncan and Wendy Holliday for their earlier IA work and graciousness and guidance in supporting this project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alex Sundt

Alex Sundt is the Web Services Librarian at Utah State University Libraries, where he manages the content and design of the Libraries' online presence. His areas of interest include content strategy, marketing, and improving library user experiences.

Teagan Eastman

Teagan Eastman is Utah State University Libraries' Online Learning Librarian. Her research interests include instructional design, usability and accessibility testing, and assessment.