Card Sort

To begin, prepare cards for an interview. Add your ideas for cards to the note. Each card should represent a key area you want to talk about, so create a card for each with pictures and words. For example, if you are developing a new cleaning product, your cards might be pictures of cleaning tools, they may depict cleaning actions, they may contain common phrases used in the cleaning industry. Brainstorm a list of content that can be written/drawn on each card. Make sure your cards are easy to understand and includes pictures, which is particularly important when talking to people from different cultures/countries. Make sure the cards represent all topics you want to talk about, such as the purchasing process, disposal process, etc.

Put together your small group or one-on-one interviews. Online or In-person: Use the Universe of Study tool to make sure you have an optimal sample size and list the people you will be interviewing. Online: Prepare the questionnaire you plan on using and add the questions here Add any other equipment you’ll need for the interview, for example, share the video conference with your participants and add the link on Step 3. In-Person: Prepare the interview space with a camera, audio recording equipment, cards you plan to use, blank cards, pens and paper notebooks, the questionnaire you plan on using, and any other equipment you’ll need for the interview.

Make sure you add the video conference call link Invite your customer as a "Guest/Participant" Schedule a meeting directly from Nova.

Before you start the interview: Make sure you're filming or recording and tell the participants the purpose of the research. When the Card Sort portion of the interview begins, give them the cards you have created, and ask them to arrange the cards or choose specific cards according to a specific factor you may be looking for. For example, you can ask them to arrange the cards by: what's most important to them what's harder for them which cards they like the most a timeline/storyline what cards they would choose based on a scenario If you think there's a specific factor that would change the behavior of your customers, ask them to rearrange the deck or choose other cards by changing a factor. For example, ask them how they would sort the cards: If they had more money? If they were older? If they had kids? When asking an interviewee about a timeline or story, make sure to provide blank cards so that the interviewee can add portions of the story that may be missing from your card deck. This may reveal critical behavior you have not anticipated. Invite them to openly talk about the topic and their experiences before they go. Be prepared to get the most data possible from each participant.

Open the board and follow the questions while joining the conference call. The session lead will provide further instructions during the call.

When each interview is done, you may write down important insights and commonalities in the note for this step for participants to review. Discuss insights.