An affinity diagram groups a long list of ideas into themes. Use it straight after a brainstorm to sort sticky notes and spot patterns your team can act on.
How to build an affinity diagram
After a brainstorm, the sticky notes are in no order. To group them:
- Working in silence, team members move the sticky notes into clusters of similar ideas, themes, processes or pathways. Most groupings end up with 2 to 6 categories.
- Once the clusters settle, write a heading for each category on a new sticky note.
- Re-read all the notes and remove any duplicates.
An affinity diagram can show the same information as a cause and effect diagram, in a different format. Some teams find one easier to read than the other.
Example: anticoagulation pathway
