Affinity Diagramming

The most interesting and popular technique for analyzing qualitative user 0:00 research data is called an Affinity Diagram, also known as Affinity Mapping. 0:05 It's based on the KJ Technique developed by the Japanese 0:10 anthropologist Jiro Kawakita and the 1960s. 0:14 The KJ Technique is an idea generating and prioritizing technique. 0:19 The gist of this technique is simple. 0:24 Right down every single observation, thought, and 0:26 question on a post-it note that's real or digital. 0:29 Shuffle the cards, sort similar cards into groups, and 0:33 identify themes in the data, label each group. 0:36 A key aspect of affinity diagramming is keeping an open mind. 0:41 Let the themes and categories emerge from the data, 0:46 rather than predefining categories and simply sorting each card into its basket. 0:49 An Affinity Diagram is powerful when you create it as a team, yet 0:54 you can definitely analyze the data singlehandedly. 0:57 The resources section in this stage lists several resources for 1:02 running an effective affinity diagramming exercise. 1:06 In the next step, we'll look at the transcript again and 1:10 see what is noteworthy. 1:13 Let's walk through an example together. 1:16 Download the project files to follow along. 1:18 I interviewed five people and here are the notes I took about what they said. 1:22 Each color represents a different person. 1:28 So I can keep track of who said what after the notes get moved around. 1:31 I kept each note short to capture the essence of what was said. 1:37 This keeps the notes brief, and 1:41 the granularity allows me to categorize them more cleanly. 1:43 Now, start moving around the notes and organizing by theme. 1:48 There will be some that don't have an obvious place, but don't worry about it. 1:53 Place them to the side and revisit them at the end. 1:58 You'll notice some themes start to emerge such as goals and challenges. 2:02 You may even notice some sub-themes. 2:06 Here's what my Affinity Diagram ended up looking like. 2:10 Keep in mind everyone's organization will be different so 2:15 don't fret if yours looks different than mine. 2:19 Now, goal was a large category for me. 2:22 So I created sub-themes such as fitness, mental health, and socialize. 2:26 This makes it easier for me to scan the diagram to understand the highlights. 2:32 Now back to the clothing store research. 2:39 Practice organizing information from the user interview in the form of 2:42 a Affinity Diagram. 2:45 When you're ready, stay tuned for 2:48 the next video where I'll wrap up what we have learned from this exercise. 2:50