Affinity diagram

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Interaction design, user experience and usability and Design and usability methods and techniques series
Type: Introduction

Introduction[edit | edit source]

According to Barbara Glover et al., “Affinity diagrams can be used for almost anything from project definition to analyzing product evaluations and everything in between.” Here we use this term to describe a as a variant for card sorting.

Method for item sorting[edit | edit source]

Preparation

Buy post-it notes or figure out a different method for sticking cards to a surface (beware of wind !)
For each site content (information, services) etc. write down a label (same procedure as in card sorting

Execution

Tell participants to look for items that seem to be related
Sort the post-its into groups until all have been used. All cards of the same group should be aligned vertically on a table or a wall
Ask participants to write out labels for these groups on blank post-its.
Repeat as many times as needed

You can allow participants to create sub-groups, i.e. a mind map-like structure.

Links[edit | edit source]

What is an Affinity Diagram? by Barbara Glover, last edited by Daphne Ogle on May 01, 2009, Fluidproject.org.