Reference table
Open vs closed vs hybrid card sorting
A comparison of the three kinds of card sort. In an open sort participants create and name the groups, in a closed sort they use your categories, and in a hybrid sort they can do both. It is for UX researchers and designers planning information architecture research. Use it to choose the variant before you write the cards. Koji can run follow-up interviews on why people grouped things the way they did.
Where this appears
What's in this reference table
| Open sort | Closed sort | Hybrid sort | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who names the groups | Participants create and name them | You set the categories | Your categories, plus any participants add |
| Use it to | Discover how users group content and the words they use | Check an existing structure against how users think | Find where a starting structure breaks down |
| Best for | Designing information architecture from scratch | Evaluating a site structure or a redesign | Iterating on an existing information architecture |
Use this image
Free to use in your docs, decks and posts under CC BY 4.0, as long as you credit Koji with a link to this page. To embed it, paste this into your page:
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<a href="https://www.koji.so/visuals/open-vs-closed-vs-hybrid-card-sorting"><img src="https://www.koji.so/visuals/open-vs-closed-vs-hybrid-card-sorting/open-vs-closed-vs-hybrid-card-sorting.png" alt="Table comparing open, closed and hybrid card sorting by who names the groups, what each is for and when to use it." width="1200" height="630" /></a>
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.koji.so/visuals/open-vs-closed-vs-hybrid-card-sorting">Open vs closed vs hybrid card sorting</a>, Koji</p>
