My client, who is in the legal research space, wanted to test whether the language used on their product resonated with users. So we ran an open card sort this week and it was great.
We got good data. Participants were asked to think-aloud while grouping content. The card sort reminded me of how much I enjoy qualitative research. It also emphasized how much of an essentialist have become.
Anyway, this is the setup we used:
A year ago, I took a course on qualitative methods, which has helped my work tremendously. From time to time, I put on my “participant observer hat” and I take in what’s happening around me.
The following are brief notes of what I observed today:
Without fail, all students mistakenly walked to room R1, a computer lab located on the right hand side of the diagram. They were then redirected to room R2.
The following sign appeared on all of the bookshelves, which was “visible” when a student exited either elevator. However, the placement of this sign worked against its purpose. People normally expect reference numbers on bookshelves; that expectation made the sign virtually invisible. This phenomenon is similar to Ad Blindness.
After 4 hours of watching students going to the wrong room, the following sign was placed on the door of room R1 by the photographers. It’s not elegant, but it did manage to get the job done.
