“Affinity Grouping / Card Sorting. The Affinity Diagram is a simple tool that can be used to organize ideas into naturally occurring groups. In a group, ideas are brainstormed and recorded onto individual sticky notes or cards. These are accumulated in no particular order until a large quantity has been developed. Next, they are sorted into groups in a bottom-up approach. Rather than creating groupings and then placing cards into them, the groupings bubble-up as likeness (or affinity) between ideas emerge. By allowing the groupings to emerge naturally, designers can avoid their preconceived understandings or assumptions about how things “should” be organized and can instead arrive at a natural hierarchy and structure.”
I love this. When I work with post-it notes, I try to organize and move ideas together and let them free-flow, almost like a mind map. Here, the careful consideration of a visual phenomenon (where to place the post-it note) helps one to see unexpected patterns that may have otherwise been overlooked. Processes and methods that support this kind of discovery are integral to the design process.
- Source: jonkolko.com
