Affinity Diagrams

Organizing Information and Ideas Into Common

Themes
(Also Known as the K-J Method or Affinity Charts)

iStockphoto
HeikeKampe

Organize information and ideas using affinity

diagrams.

Think about the last time you tried to make sense

of a large number of ideas.
You may have felt overwhelmed by all of the suggestions, or perhaps you
struggled to organize them and make sense of them. You may even have
worried that you'd missed vital details, because you "couldn't see the wood for
the trees."
In situations like this, you can use affinity diagrams to organize information
and ideas, and see how they're connected. We'll look at how to create affinity
diagrams in this article.

About the Tool

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.

Figure 1 An Affinity Diagram

How to Use the Tool

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.

Example: Figure 2

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...

An empathy map is a collaborative tool teams can use to gain a deeper insight into their
customers. Much like a user persona, an empathy map can represent a group of users,
such as a customer segment. The empathy map was originally created by Dave Gray
and has been gaining popularity with the agile community.
What Does an Empathy Map Look Like?

An empathy map consists of a simple face surrounded by six sections:

1.

Think & Feel

2.

Hear

3.

See

4.

Say & Do

5.

Pain

6.

Gain

How Would I Use an Empathy Map?

A sample empathy mapping session may be as follows:

Assemble your team and have them bring any personas, data, or insights about the
target of your empathy map.
Print out, or sketch, the empathy map template on a large piece of paper or whiteboard.
Hand each team member sticky notes and a marker.
Each person should add at least one sticky to every section.
Ask questions, such as what would this user be:

 thinking & feeling about their worries or aspirations?

hearing while using our product, from their friends or boss?
seeing while using our product in their environment?
saying & doing while using our product in public or in private?
experiencing as a pain point or fear when using our product?
experiencing as a positive or gain when using our product?
Have the team members speak about the sticky notes as they place them on the
empathy map. Ask questions about deeper insights so that they can be elaborated for
the rest of the team.
To help bring the user to life, sketch out the characteristics this person may have on the
center of the face.
At the end of the session, ask the team members what insights theyve learned. More
importantly, ask them what hypotheses they now have about the users that theyd like to
validate.
When Would I Use an Empathy Map?

Empathy maps can be used whenever you find a need to immerse yourself in a users
environment.
They can be helpful when, but are not limited to:
diving into the customer segments of a business model canvas
elaborating on user personas
capturing the behaviors when pair interviewing a customer
building out the user in your user story
What If My Team Is Distributed?

While empathy mapping sessions are ideally conducted in a collocated scenario, online
tools are emerging that allow you to host a session virtually. Ive created a
simple Google Docs Template that is simple to use. Innovation Games has also recently
added the empathy map to its collection of online experiences.

Enter the life SAVERS, a sequence that combines the six most effective
personal development practices known to man. While someone could
invest hours on these practices, it only takes one minute for each -- or
six minutes total -- to see extraordinary results.
Just imagine if the first six minutes of every morning began like this:

Minute 1: S is for silence.

Instead of hitting the snooze button, and then rushing through your day
feeling stressed and overwhelmed, invest your first minute in sitting in
purposeful silence. Sit quietly, calm and peaceful and breathe deeply.
Maybe you meditate. Center yourself and create an optimum state of
mind that will lead you effectively through the rest of your day.
Maybe you say a prayer of gratitude and appreciate the moment. As you
sit in silence, you quiet your mind, relax your body and allow your stress
to melt away. You develop a deeper sense of clarity, purpose, and
direction.

Minute 2: A is for Affirmations.

Pull out and read your page of affirmations -- written statements that
remind you of your unlimited potential, your most important goals and
the actions you must take today to achieve them. Reading over
reminders of how capable you really are motivates you. Looking over
which actions you must take, re-energizes you to focus on doing whats
necessary today to takeyour life to the next level.

Minute 3. V is for visualization.

Close your eyes and visualize what it will look like and feel like when you
reach your goals. Seeing your ideal vision increases your belief that its
possible and your desire to make it a reality.
Related: How to Become More of a Morning Person (Infographic)

Minute 4. E is for exercise.

Stand up and move your body for 60 seconds, long enough to increase
the flow of blood and oxygen to your brain. You could easily do a minute
of jumping jacks, push-ups, or sit-ups. The point is that you raise your
heart rate, generate energy and increase your ability to be alert and
focused.

Minute 5. R is for reading.

Grab the self-help book youre currently reading and read one page,
maybe two. Learn a new idea, something you can incorporate into your
day, which will improve your results at work or in your relationships.
Discover something new that you can use to think better, feel better and
live better.

Minute 6. S is for scribing.

Pull out your journal and take one minute to write down something youre
grateful for, something youre proud of and the top one to three results
that youre committed to creating that day. In doing so, you create the
clarity and motivation that you need to take action.