Affinity diagrams

Purpose

To organize facts, opinions and issues into natural groups to help diagnose a complex situation or find themes

Why use an affinity diagram

• To help organize a lot of ideas

• To help identify central themes in a set of ideas

• When information about a problem is not well organized

• When a breakthrough is needed beyond traditional thinking

When to use affinity diagrams

• Use to organize ideas from a brainstorming session in any phase of DMAIC

• Use to find themes and messages in customer statements gleaned from interviews, surveys, or focus groups

How to create an affinity diagram

1. Gather ideas from brainstorming session, or customer need statements from interview transcripts, surveys, etc.

2. Write ideas on cards or self-stick notes (one idea per card; stay as close to original language as possible).

3. Post self-stick notes randomly on a board or flip chart; if using cards, place them randomly on a table top.

4. Allow people to SILENTLY start grouping the cards or notes.

   • It's OK to move notes or cards that someone else has already moved. If you cannot agree on where an idea belongs, write a duplicate note and put it in both groups

   • Silence is critical!—don't let the talkers sway the non-talkers

5. When the clustering is done, create a "header" label (on a note or card) for each group .

   • Work through the groups one at a time

   • Ask participants to interpret what they see

   • Ask them to suggest a label or key theme for that group

     

   • Write the theme on a larger self-stick note or card (the "Header") and place it at the top of a cluster

   • Continue until you've labeled all clusters

6. OPTIONAL: Do a second round of clustering if desired. Clip together all the cards or notes from each cluster with only the Header labels showing. Then move the Headers into groups. Create "Master" header labels for the larger clusters.

7. Complete the diagram and discuss the results.

   • How will the patterns you've found influence your actions?

   • If you're working with customer need statements, move into developing requirements based on those needs. May want to separate the needs based on the Kano Model categories (p. 66) before starting.