Affinity Diagram

Process & Techniques
#1

Hello,

Please help me in giving your thoughtful suggestions.

  1. Can affinity diagram help to glean a visual cue from a small set of data collected?

  2. Is this the right method to do so in such a case?

Best,
Manu

#2

I guess it could, but the basis of the concept is to pull together related insights from large data sets.

If you have a small data set I’m not sure it would be necessary.

That said, I’m not a @Researchers

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#3

Hi,

I do not see how affinity diagram can help you there - or maybe I did not quite understood what is the study that you are doing?
Good application - design article where affinity diagram was used can be checked here:

How I have usually used affinity diagram is by writing down small quotes that are coming from testers/participants transcripts and also notes I took during the observation. If you have such notes - then maybe?
then cluster them always with another person - discuss and cluster by theme.
but the paper I cited may help.
Other wise you can also check techniques here:

and here: UX Techniques -
Br
Marion

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#4

I would start asking - What is the research question?
what test did you run?
as affinity diagram is more an analytical technique

Br
Marion

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#5

Hello @marion_boberg,

Thanks to respond.

How I have usually used affinity diagram is by writing down small quotes that are coming from testers/participants transcripts and also notes I took during the observation. This can definitely help me as I have made notes and will go through the paper as well.

I am to build the user profiles and to elicit and analyze the findings- an affinity diagram.

Hope this helped you to comprehend what I meant.

Manu

#6

As is the case in research, it really depends on what you’re trying to learn. Define your research question well. What problem are you trying to solve?

The affinity diagram shows how many different ways things are alike and lets you sort and resort. If what you’re needing is to find underlying categories. However, it’s just a tool. If you don’t know what you want out of it, it’s hard to make the method shine.

Begin every project with the end in mind so that you can make sure its pointed in the right direction.

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#7

Sounds like you have experience using Affinity diagrams. I tend to use them often and think of each sticky note (my preferred method) as a piece of a puzzle. The ones that fit together form a cluster and there may be one or more clusters.

If the groupings make sense then you can use the grouping to better tell the story of your data. If building user profiles, you may end up with groups like goals, motivations, behaviors, etc… The clusters are themes that should not be named until they are settled, sort of like an open card sort.

I hope this helps. I tend to use Affinity diagrams for a lot to find themes. Right or wrong they are effective for me so I use them.

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