INSIGHT on INSIGHT: Utilizing Sorting Exercises
WHAT AND WHEN: Proper usage
Sorting exercises are a great way to filter a large number of variables. It can be done through both qualitative in-person interviews or quantitative internet surveys.
Sorting exercises can be designed to accomplish a variety of ends, including ranking items from most to least (importance, appealing, etc.), classifying variables into certain categories, and completing sequential exercises that identify underlying or overarching themes that transcend the individual items being evaluated.
WHY: The benefit and value
Through brainstorming or ideation, a company may have produced a large number of ideas. These could be brand names, positioning statements, benefits, features or just about anything else.
Companies want to avoid prematurely deleting ideas that could have merit, but also not spend excessive resourcing thoroughly evaluating every idea.
A well-designed sorting exercise can quickly identify which ideas are DOA (dead on arrival), which ideas appear to be early front-runners, and which other ideas are worth being further refined and considered.
Sorting can also be used to force preference between items that may appear to have fairly similar or almost identical preference based on other metrics.
Most important, sorting allows the shopper or consumer or end user to have a say early in the process. It minimizes the risk of individuals at the company letting their personal perspective or bias cause the best ideas to be neglected or overlooked.
HOW: Tips to guide a basic approach
Sorting is a form of ranking that solely identifies the order of items. It does not identify the magnitude or relative difference between items. The resulting data has less fidelity compared to other rating or chip allocation techniques, but is also less demanding on respondents and reduces the risk of misinterpretation.
Good sorting should consider some of the following:
- Consider the total number of elements to be sorted. Participants can typically handle more items in-person than on a computer (or smart phone) screen.
- Have a system to randomize how elements are presented to participants each time
- Make sure elements are test-ably different. That is, participants will not confuse the meanings or view two as being identical.
- Provide clear instructions for what factors the participant should be sorting on. You may want to study appeal, uniqueness, purchase intent or other factors you believe are predictive of the success you want.
- Clarify how much participants should think about or consider external factors or knowledge beyond what is presented in the study.
APPLICATION: What to do with the results
Depending on how the sorting data is gathered (qualitative or quantitative), the results may be viewed as directional information needing further validation or it may be considered objective and factual data worth driving specific decisions. Some of these decisions may include:
- Deciding to stop pursuing low-ranking ideas
- Selecting a limited number of top-ranking ideas to pursue or further research
- Identifying macro themes that appear to be common among top-ranking ideas and develop new concepts based on those macro themes