HCI Methods · Design + Evaluation

Affinity diagramming (or the KJ method) is a technique used to externalize, make sense of, and organize large amounts of unstructured, far-ranging, and seemingly dissimilar qualitative data. Common uses of affinity diagramming include analyzing contextual inquiry data, clustering user attributes into profiles or requirements, problem framing and idea generation, and prioritizing issues in usability tests.

Our affinity diagramming process for prototype evaluations consists of four stages. First, when creating notes, we embrace the affordances of paper by producing handwritten sticky notes. Second, when clustering notes, we invite team members to go through each other’s notes in sequence, to avoid ownership issues and to create a better understanding of the context when an observation of use is made. Third, in walking the wall, we take advantage of color-coded sticky notes to check at a glance if enough people have raised an issue. Finally, in documentation, we pick relevant user quotes and count notes to communicate and quantify our main findings.

Design Cards

Design cards are a low-tech, tangible, and approachable way to introduce information and sources of inspiration as part of the design process. Cards are instantly recognizable to most participants, meaning that they can serve as shared objects between diverse groups of participants. The tangible and manifest nature of design cards furthermore enable them to function as props that encourage and support design moves in a manner visible to all participants, and they are open to ongoing reconfiguration and manipulation in a very straightforward manner.

Design cards can support different phases of a design process, from initial ideation through ongoing concept development towards evaluation of design concepts. Design cards work in collaborative design because they act as tangible idea containers, support combinatorial creativity, and enable collaboration.