Syntagm > Design for Usability > Card Sorting | Software & Other Downloads

Card Sorting – Software & Other Downloads

This page has the downloads you need you need to start printing and processing card sorts. If you plan to use web-based sorting (Websort.net »), you can skip straight to the software downloads.

On this page:

• Presentations
• Templates for printing
• Email news/discussion list
• Software
• SynCaps comparison chart »
• Release Notes
• SynCaps V1
• SynCaps V2
• Upgrading from V1 to V2

Presentations

A Brief Introduction to Card Sorting Webinar 25-Feb-09

(Right-click these to download them to your PC. The version with audio runs for about 30 minutes.)

PowerPoint Show (no audio, size 405K)
 
PowerPoint Show with Audio (zip file, size 71M)

Note that we have videos available on separate page. These can be viewed in place or downloaded for later reference and distribution: Card Sorting Videos

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Templates for Printing

We provide mail merge templates for Microsoft Word running on Windows (unfortunately the bar codes do not work on the Macintosh versions of Word). The templates include versions for 4 cards to a page or 14 self-adhesive labels to a page, in both A4 and US Letter page sizes (be sure to download the correct template set for you page size).

To download the files, right-click the links and select "Save target as..." (or similar for browsers other than Internet Explorer). All of the files are stored in compressed zip file form.

A4 Downloads

• Participant cards - numbered (just print as many as you need)
• Group cards for closed card sorts (fixed groups - includes a mail
  merge master and data file for group names)
• Item cards - includes a mail merge master and data file for item
  names, descriptions and alternatives.
• Sub-group cards - used to split groups.
• Versions for cards and self-adhesive labels
• Instructions

Right-click to download A4 documents in a zip file
(capsa4.zip, last modified 08-Aug-2011, size 5.1M)

US Letter (Quarto) Downloads

• Participant cards - numbered (just print as many as you need)
• Group cards for closed card sorts (fixed groups - includes a mail
  merge master and data file for group names)
• Item cards - includes a mail merge master and data file for item
  names, descriptions and alternatives.
• Sub-group cards - used to split groups.
• Versions for cards and self-adhesive labels
• Instructions

Right-click to download US Letter documents
(capslt.zip, last modified 08-Aug-2011, size 5.1M)

Note that for open card sorts, we suggest you just use blank group cards. Participants will be instructed to write the group names on the blank cards.Type these in as you are doing the data capture. For group cards, just type 'G' (case is not important) followed immediately by the name. For example 'GFruit & Veg' (omitting the quote marks).

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Email News/Discussion List

Click here to join our card sorting news/discussion list. This will allow you to be notified of updates or special offers and provides a useful way to engage with other SynCaps users.

Software

Our cluster analysis software is called SynCaps (Syntagm Computer Aided Paper Sorting). It is available in two main versions:

• SynCaps V1 - dendrogram chart and spreadsheet files (free)
• SynCaps V2 - dendrogram chart, spreadsheet files, pairs map and items x group chart; ability to merge, rename or ignore items and groups

Both versions produce participant, item, card, and matrix spreadsheet (.csv) files for further analysis, making SynCaps the most comprehensive analysis tool available. (Note that Microsoft Excel or similar is needed for the analysis and charting of exported files.)

A comparison chart of features, with examples, is available by clicking here.

Release Notes

SynCaps V1.6.1 and V2.3 are primarily bug-fix releases. However, there are some other important changes, so please read the notes that follow if you are an existing SynCaps users.

• The SynCaps V1 executable is now called 'SynCapsV1.exe' rather than 'SynCaps.exe'
• Because of changes in the Microsoft security model, you will need to enter your SynCapsV2 license key again on Windows Vista and later operating systems. You can copy and paste this from the license dialog of your current SynCapsV2 executable (into a Word or Notepad document). Alternatively, refer to the email you would have received from us when your license was purchased or updated.
• In both V1 and V2, dragging the splitter bar in the dendrogram chart now works even if the chart window is scrolled horizontally or vertically.
• SynCaps V2.3 fixes a problem that occurred if the first item in a project was part of a merged set (a superfluous line was shown in charts). The display of average fit values in the dendrogram chart was also repaired.

If you have any problems or questions with the software please get in touch. Be sure to mention which version of SynCaps you are using.

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SynCaps V1 Cluster Analysis Software

This software works on most versions of Windows and is available as a free download. It processes the the data file produced from bar code scanning (or from online sorting sites), produces a dendrogram and output files suitable for further analysis by Excel or similar packages (see the comparison table for examples). Detailed instructions are included.

Note that version 1.3.8 and later support Unicode, so that non-Latin alphabets (such as Greek or Cyrillic) can be used. A Cyrillic sample data file is included.

What's new in V1.6.1 - please see the Release Notes above.

SynCaps V1 Download

Right-click to download SynCaps V1.6.1 for Windows
(syncapsv1.zip, last modified 08-Aug-2011, size 1.6M)

Don't forget that you will need one of the free Word mail merge downloads (above) in order to computer-print cards or labels with bar codes.

SynCaps V1 is free.

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SynCaps V2 Cluster Analysis Software

SynCaps V2 includes all of the functionality of V1. It adds important new time-saving features and provides additional visualizations of sort results. See the comparison table for examples.

What's new in V2.3 - please see the Release Notes above.

SynCaps V2 Download

Right-click to download SynCaps V2.3.1 for Windows
(syncapsv2.zip, last modified 08-Aug-2011, size 2.2M)

Don't forget that you will need one of the free Word mail merge downloads (above) in order to computer-print the cards with bar codes.

SynCaps V2 is free to try for 14 days (trial mode has a limit of 10 participants). A single machine license costs £150.00 GBP.

To purchase a license, first download and run the software to make sure that it meets your requirements. Then select the "Buy now" button in the program's licensing window or copy and paste the serial number from the licensing window into the following field:

Please note that you do not need a different copy of the program itself. The license key allows the trial version to work beyond the initial 14 day period.

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Upgrading from a purchased copy of SynCaps V1 to V2

(This process does not apply to the free version of SynCaps V1, only the purchased versions sold prior to 2010 labelled V1.5 or lower. If you are using a free edition of SynCaps V1, simply download V2 and buy a license in the normal way.)

First, make sure that SynCaps V1 is installed and licensed for the machine you want to use. Then:

• Download and run V2
• In the licensing dialog, click the 'Upgrade' button. This will ask you for your license key from SynCaps V1. Copy and paste this from the V1 license dialog or the email you were sent when you made the purchase.
• Enter address and payment details. The upgrade cost is £100.00 GBP.

If SynCaps V1 is running on a machine other than the one you wish to use for V2, you will first need to transfer it. Email us with the original purchase details and the serial number displayed when you run it on the target system.

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Keywords: card sorting, information architecture, menu design, screen design, cluster analysis, caps, syncaps