Merging methodologies: Combining individual and group card sorting

Abstract

This paper presents a case study detailing how we combined individual card sorts with focus groups and group card sorting to improve the content hierarchy and organization of www.libertymutual.com, the personal insurance website of Liberty Mutual, which customers can visit to get an insurance quote, service their insurance policies, or find insurance-related information. We analyzed quantitative and qualitative data from 26 participants, on which we based our recommendations for a new hierarchy and site structure. Our paper will show how the results from the individual and group sorts differed, how the individual exercise informed the group exercise, and how the group exercise informed the recommendations. We believe this combination of individual sorting, group sorting, and focus group discussion makes this methodology unique. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.