Website Navigation Structures : Eliciting Mental Models Using Card-sorting

This study focuses on eliciting the mental model of individuals using food-brand websites and applying the findings to the domain of sustainable e-commerce websites. By understanding users' mental models and studying the applicability of the model, design recommendations are made for sustainable e-commerce websites to enhance user experience. To elicit the user’s mental model a card-sorting study was performed. Subsequently, a comparative analysis was conducted between sustainable e-commerce websites and the identified mental model to evaluate its applicability to other sustainable e-commerce websites. Based on the findings, recommendations are made to improve the navigation structures for sustainable e-commerce websites to provide a better user experience. The findings of this study contribute to the rapidly expanding field of e-commerce and sustainability. The recommendations provide valuable guidance for designers and developers of sustainable e-commerce websites, enabling them to organize and present information in a way that aligns with users' mental models.