While sticky notes are fun, they’re difficult to track and share. The traditional method of affinity diagramming requires a reckless amount of sticky notes.

To gather unique viewpoints-The beginning of the affinity diagram process is largely self-led, and that’s conducive to inspiring unique ideas and suggestions.

For instance, if you’re overhauling your UX, you’ll want to gather ideas from your team about all aspects of UX, from font size to dropdown menus.

To solve a complex problem-These inherently require sorting through a large amount of data.

There are two ideal times to use an affinity diagram: Affinity diagram example (Click on image to modify online) These days, affinity diagrams are commonly used across myriad business settings. Kawakita was influenced by philosophers such as Kant, Hegel, and Bergson and was interested in solving complex problems, such as addressing the disintegrating environmental equilibrium of Nepal’s Sikha Valley. In fact, affinity diagrams were originally referred to as “KJ” diagrams in his honor. The affinity diagram was invented by a Japanese anthropologist named Jiro Kawakita in the 1960s.

We’ll walk you through how to use a cloud-based affinity diagram to make the most out of your team’s time together. The best part is that affinity diagrams are especially useful for sorting and organizing large amounts of ideas, which makes them great for big teams, difficult issues, and complex ideas. Using the affinity diagramming method, your entire team is involved with generating ideas, categorizing thoughts, and prioritizing topics. The ideas the team generates are difficult to make sense of and not as creative as they could be.Įnter the brilliance of the affinity diagram. Another team member is completely checked out and secretly placing a lunch order. When the brainstorm starts, one person tends to contribute the majority of the ideas.

If you’ve never experienced a disorganized brainstorming session, here’s what it’s like: the team shows up with different understandings of the purpose for the session.

Define affinity diagram