Concept Discovery Template
Mental Model Card Sort Template
Users often think about your product differently than you expect. This template helps you uncover their mental models-how they conceptualize tasks, group information, and understand system logic-so you can design structures that align with real expectations.
Decision context
Mental Model Card Sort helps reduce a real decision risk.
Use this early in product definition, before restructuring dashboards, or when introducing complex features (analytics, automations, workflows). Perfect for revealing mismatches between your intended architecture and how users naturally think.
Template preview
What is inside the template
The template combines card sorting + questions and surveys with focused follow-up prompts, so the team can collect the specific evidence described in the source study.
Study spine
A focused study spine, ready to adapt.
The preview shows the shape of the study: the stimulus or task, the core prompts, and the follow-up evidence Fred can help you collect.
Prompt 01
Long text
Why did you group the items the way you did?
Capture the response as part of the study so the team can compare patterns across participants.
Prompt 02
Multiple Choice - Multiple select
Which items were the hardest to categorize?
Options: Insight Reports, Automations, User Management, Billing, Notifications, Integrations,
Prompt 03
Long text
If any cards felt unclear, what about them was confusing?
Capture the response as part of the study so the team can compare patterns across participants.
Prompt 04
Long text
Based on your groups, how would you expect this product's navigation to be
Capture the response as part of the study so the team can compare patterns across participants.
Methods included
Research methods used by the template.
The preview above shows the template-specific prompts and tasks. This section explains the method types in general, so teams understand what each one is for.
Card Sorting
Mental model mapping
Method purpose
Card sorting reveals how people group information, labels, features, or concepts before teams harden navigation and taxonomy decisions.
Questions and Surveys
Structured response capture
Method purpose
Survey questions collect text, scale, choice, date, numerical, or grid responses so teams can compare user feedback consistently.
Workflow in Fred
From template to decision-ready evidence
Fred gives you a structured starting point for the study, then helps you collect responses and turn recurring signals into evidence your team can review.
- 01Start from the prebuilt structureOpen the mental model card sort template, then adapt the placeholder stimulus, task, or wording to match your product context.
- 02Collect focused responsesParticipants complete the card sorting + questions and surveys flow and answer the follow-up prompts that capture the decision signal.
- 03Review patterns and confidenceIdentify how users mentally group concepts, which terms they associate together, and where their expectations diverge from your current design.
- 04Share a decision-ready reportTurn the recurring evidence into a clear recommendation for the product, design, content, or research decision at hand.
Evidence output
What you can decide after running this template
The output should help the team move from opinions to concrete evidence about what users understood, selected, completed, preferred, or questioned.
Signal
Identify how users mentally group concepts, which terms they associate together, and where their expectations diverge from your current design.
Evidence
Gain insights to guide IA, naming, onboarding, and feature placement.
Action
Use the results to refine the experience before the decision becomes expensive to change.
Method fit
Use this template when the decision needs focused evidence.
Use this section to decide whether the template is the right starting point, or whether the research question needs a broader plan.
Good fit
Use this early in product definition, before restructuring dashboards, or when introducing complex features (analytics, automations, workflows). Perfect for revealing mismatches between your intended architecture and how users naturally think.
Use another method
You need statistically representative market sizing rather than directional research evidence. You have not defined the stimulus, task, concept, page, or feature that participants should evaluate. You need a broad discovery program instead of a compact template-led study.
Who it helps
Different teams can use the same evidence for different decisions.
The template keeps the study compact enough for a sprint, while still giving each role the evidence they need to move the decision forward.
Product Manager
Problem
Needs evidence for a concept discovery decision without designing the study from scratch.
Outcome
Gets a ready structure for collecting card sorting + questions and surveys evidence.
UX Researcher
Problem
Needs a repeatable method structure that keeps questions, tasks, and follow-ups focused.
Outcome
Gets a study spine that can be adapted, launched, and reported with less setup work.
Related resources
Continue from this template to related methods and decisions.
Use these links to connect the template to the broader Fred workflow and supporting educational content.
FAQ
Practical details before you run the template.
Short answers for teams deciding whether this template fits the research decision in front of them.
Start the study
Use this template to collect evidence before the decision hardens.
Start with a structured study, collect focused evidence, and turn the results into a clearer product decision.
Output
A focused study, a clearer decision, and evidence your team can inspect.