Affinity Diagrams

Japanese anthropologist Kawakita Jiro originally developed

the affinity diagram – also known as the K-J Method or the
affinity chart – in the 1960s.

When you use an affinity diagram, an example of which is

shown in figure 1 below, you group unorganized ideas into
meaningful themes. You can then see the connections
between them.

How to Use Affinity Diagrams

Here is a step-by-step guide to creating affinity diagrams.
As we work through the steps below, we'll use the example
of organizing ideas from a brainstorming session.

Step 1: Transfer Ideas Onto Sticky Notes

Write down every piece of information that you need to
organize onto a separate sticky note.

When you are sure that you have written everything down,
stick your notes onto a wall or table. Don't worry about
organizing information at this stage – you'll do this next.

Step 2: Sort Ideas Into Themes

Your next step is to sort all the ideas into groups. Start small
– look for just two ideas that are similar in some way, and
group them together on the table or wall. Then, look for
another two ideas that relate to one other, and so on.
(Where ideas are essentially the same, stack them up on
top of one another – this will simplify your diagram.)

Then, cluster these small groups into larger ones, so that

you start to gather similar ideas by theme.

Keep in mind that you might have some ideas that don't fit
into any group at all. That's fine – you can look at them
later.

Step 3: Title Groups

Now, "title" each grouping with a theme label – some people
call these "affinity cards" or "header cards."

Create a short, three- to five-word description for the

relationship, write this description on a sticky note, and
place it at the top of the group that it describes. You can
also use "subheader" cards, where necessary, to group sub-
themes within a major theme.

If you have "loner cards," you can give them their own
theme.
Step 4: Develop Solutions
Having developed your affinity diagram, you'll find it much
easier to see how ideas fit together. Just by looking at it,
you can quickly spot projects and sub-projects that you may
need to run.

At this stage, you'll need to sense-check ideas, evaluate

possible projects to see whether they're worth running,
prioritize them, and manage them appropriately.