Affinity diagramming

Affinity Diagramming is a very simple but powerful technique for grouping and understanding information.

When?

Use affinity diagramming in a workshop environment when you want participants to work together identifying, grouping and discussing issues.

You can also use affinity diagramming when you have a large amount of information - for example, at the end of a contextual enquiry, when you may have hundreds or even thousands of individual notes.

How?

Begin by handing out Post-It notes. Ask participants to write one issue on each note. Give participants some minutes for this activity, but ask them to stop when a large majority of participants have stopped.

Get all participants to gather at a vertical surface suitable for Post-It notes.

Encourage participants to place notes, one at a time, on the surface. As each note is placed, other participants may add similar notes in close proximity.

Depending on the amount of time, the information being analyzed, and on group dynamics (and patience) it may be worth spending some additional time considering and rearranging the groups.

When all notes have been placed and grouped, you can optionally name each group.

Guidelines

• If you are facilitating the activity, you must pay constant attention. Otherwise, you may lose touch with what is happening, and it may be difficult to regain an understanding of the data structure.
• Allow all participants to contribute. There may be an individual who wants to take control of positioning and moving the notes. Do not allow this to happen. Do not move someone's note without their agreement. Discussion will often indicate that the participant wanted to articulate a different issue.
• Encourage participants to read their notes aloud while placing them on the surface.
• Encourage participants to place one note at a time.
• Affinity diagramming can be quite tiring. Do not allow the activity to continue past the point of tiredness or boredom. Avoid having more than two consecutive affinity diagramming sessions during a workshop.
• Remember that resultant groupings are arbitrary. Be flexible in how you use the data.