Card Sort cluster analysis tool 1.2

Modified Tue, 21 May 2013 23:05:17 +0300.

Card sorting is a user research method used to determing and verify the structure and hierarchy of a website or service. It is fast, reliable and inexpensive and can provide insight into users' mental models.

Card sorting can be done with physical cards or over the web. One of the best on-line card sorting tools is OptimalSort, which can be tried for free. OptimalSort only provides a list of results, which is very difficult to understand and analyze. This is where this Card Sort cluster analysis tool comes into use. It takes the results list from OptimalSort and translates them into an understandable table, similarity matrix and an interactive treeview. See sample data and sample output. Please note that neither your data nor the results are stored. If you encounter problems, please send feedback to aapo.puskala@userpoint.fi.

How to use

1. Create a card sort project with OptimalSort (can be done for free)
2. Export All raw data in CSV (Comma Separated) format
3. Upload the file with the form below and let the script analyze your data. This will take a few seconds.
4. Send feedback to aapo.puskala@userpoint.fi. This tool is free and will remain free. All I ask is to let me know how to make it better.

Planned updates

• PDF generation. This would make the output easier to download and to print. Currently it is a bit difficult to get a neat printout.

Changes

• May 21 2013 - Updated the script to handle the updated file format from OptimalSort
• Mar 20 2012 - Updated the script to handle the new file format from OptimalSort
• Jun 09 2011 - Fixed a bug, which caused incorrect labels for clusters in the dendrogram. The cluster table showed the correct ones, the problem was only with the labels in the dendrgoram.
• Nov 17 2009 - Fixed a bug, which stopped analysis when there were two or more clusters of cards with nothing in common (no common card pairs).
• Aug 02 2009 - Found a bug, where all ungrouped card created one big cluster. Not any longer.
• Feb 23 2009 - Moved user comments from the table to a separate list
• Feb 22 2009 - Added output time in seconds (top of result page)
• Feb 22 2009 - Found a way to generate PDFs. Not in use yet.
• Feb 21 2009 - Changed the way clusters are named, based on user-given category labels. The new methods is much more accurate.
• Feb 21 2009 - Cleaned the whole script, renamed variables, removed unnecessary loops etc. Everything is simpler and easier to understand & update
• Feb 20 2009 - Added a table of clusters at the end of the result
• Feb 18 2009 - Added a list of changes and planned updates

Known bugs and problems

• Excel makes the CSV unreadable. MS Excel adds extra quotes in the file, which will make it unreadable (without considerable extra effort). You may open the file in Excel, but do not save it over the original one.
• Saving the results is tricky. The upcoming PDF format will fix this. Until then, please try printing the page, but instead of printing, save it as PDF. On a Mac this works right away, Windows users need Adobe Acrobat. You can also try copy-pasting the result into another application.
• At the moment this tool supports only OptimalSort. If you'd like to use other card sorting services, please send me a sample data file and if available, a description of it.