In my last project, we had collected a lot of data, yet were still having problems sorting it out. Affinity diagramming helped to identify connections between issues and to place our findings into a meaningful spatial arrangement. This participatory mapping method clusters elements related to the researched topic in order to find significant innovation opportunities. Concepts are written on cards and sorted into related groups and subgroups. The relationships between concepts are derived intuitively from factors such as proximity, resemblance, dependence and so on.

Originally, affinity diagramming was developed in social sciences to help diagnose complex problems by sorting qualitative data to discover common themes throughout a problem set. The process is derived from the card clustering in the creativity method of Kawakita, Jiro. Here is an example of a KJ sort:

Existing items and new items identified by individuals are written on cards or sticky notes. Categories are either discovered as a workshop activity or predetermined during research. You can use Affinity diagramming to discover user needs, analyse findings from user research and to identify problems with functions of a design.

We use this mapping method to interpret qualitative data, to show the whole range of a problem or to frame it (give it boundries). It also helps to find areas for future research or to find topic areas to eliminate. These days, I make a variation of this using coloured strings to identify further connections / leads once the clusters are done. I can’t show one out of a real project, but since I was inspired to it by a tv series…

Further reading on the web:

• Gaffney, G. (ND) Affinity Diagramming to analyse usability issues – some practical advice on affinity diagramming
• Spool, J. (ND). The kj-technique: a group process for establishing priorities. – the original use of the technique.

Literature:

• Courage, C., & Baxter K. (2005). Understanding your users. A practical guide to user requirements: Methods, tools, and techniques. San Francisco, CA: Morgan Kaufmann.
• Holtzblatt, K., Wendell, J. B., & Wood, S. (2005). Rapid contextual design: A how-to guide to key techniques for user-centered design. San Francisco, CA: Morgan Kaufmann.
• Kuniavsky, M. (2003). Observing the user experience: A practitioner’s guide to user research. San Francisco, CA: Morgan Kaufmann.