Affinity Diagramming for Sorting UX Findings and Ideas - NN/G

Introducing NN/G Membership | Access all self-paced courses for $249 per year | Join by Jan. 26, 2027 |
Find the training option that fits your learning style.
April 26, 2024 · Last reviewed Aug. 7, 2026 2026-08-07
When facilitating UX workshops, engaging the team and creating a semblance of order among diverse ideas and findings can be challenging. One method that helps teams collaboratively analyze research findings and ideas from ideation sessions is affinity diagramming.
Affinity diagramming refers to organizing related observations, ideas, concepts, or findings into distinct clusters.
Affinity diagramming is also referred to as affinity mapping, collaborative sorting, snowballing, and sometimes even card sorting. (However, affinity diagramming focuses on grouping broad ideas while card sorting is a specific research method used to determine the information architecture of a site or application.)
Successful affinity diagramming during a workshop can lead to team alignment, robust design ideas, and a set of next steps to move forward in a project or strategy.
Affinity diagramming is a flexible mapping activity that can be used across various stages of the UX process, from initial research to final design refinement. It’s used by individuals or groups to quickly organize:
While it’s possible to create an affinity diagram on your own, this artifact is best created as a team to promote discussion and aid in decision making.
There are typically three steps to affinity diagramming:
In the first step of affinity diagramming, the team’s goal is to assemble a wide range of ideas, observations, or data points. These are written on sticky notes and posted up on a wall or arranged on a digital whiteboard in no particular order.
The sticky notes generated in this step come in many forms, depending on the context of the project. For example:
This step is typically divergent: each team member independently writes out ideas, to avoid being biased by other team members or conversations. You can do this step together as a larger group, but be aware of dominating participants or personalities that may skew the group in a certain direction, diminishing valuable differing perspectives and conversations.
Give the team a set amount of time to generate ideas on sticky notes so they don’t overanalyze — typically 5-10 minutes, depending on the amount of data being analyzed. Some teams also use color-coded sticky notes to indicate different categories of information, such as direct user quotes versus observations from research.
After everyone posts their sticky notes, the team collaboratively organizes them into clusters representing different themes. Look for sticky notes that reference similar ideas, issues, or functionality.
Be open-minded during this step, as not everyone will agree on which sticky notes go together. To keep things moving, it can be helpful to start grouping sticky notes based on content before deciding on a theme label.
This step can be done collaboratively or led by a workshop facilitator to direct conversation and keep the team focused. You’ll notice different-sized clusters depending on what sticks out to workshop participants — this is normal! Don’t discount a small cluster just because it has few sticky notes. These ideas still hold value and should be considered. They are also a sign that diverse perspectives were represented in the workshop.
The clusters in this step may include:
In the last phase of affinity diagramming, the team reviews the clusters and prioritizes which ideas to focus on. Large affinity diagrams are overwhelming and can stall us from making progress on initiatives, so it’s important to leave the workshop with a plan to move forward.
The team revisits each cluster on the diagram, documents appropriate next steps or actions, and then ranks or votes on the clusters that are most important. The action items should focus on further research, open questions, design iterations, or paths to fix issues.
When prioritizing clusters, consider using dot voting or dot coding techniques if team members struggle to come to a consensus through discussion. To ensure completion of the action items, nominate a point person to oversee them.
Action items and paths forward could include:
Once the workshop has concluded and the team is aligned, document the affinity diagram and save it for future reference. As with any mapping activity, the journey is more important than the destination: the discussions that occurred while building the diagram are more impactful than the final format of the diagram.
While there isn’t a set of hard and fast rules of how to do affinity diagramming, keep the following dos and don’ts in mind to set yourself up for success:
Affinity diagramming is a flexible and collaborative UX mapping activity that helps teams organize ideas or facts. This method ensures that the entire team’s ideas and observations are represented and breaks down a multitude of information into easily digestible action items.
Foundational concepts that everyone should know
Lead goal-based group activities to make decisions and establish alignment
Enable cookies to watch NN/g videos
Affinity Diagramming: Collaborate, Sort and Prioritize UX Ideas
User Panels: Maintenance and Governance
Lola Famulegun · 4 min
5 Reasons to Test Even When You “Know” the Answer
Hoa Loranger · 4 min
A Case for Returning to In-Person Usability Testing
Hoa Loranger · 6 min
The Diverge-and-Converge Technique for UX Workshops
Therese Fessenden · 6 min
3 Design Processes for High Usability: Iterative Design, Parallel Design, and Competitive Testing
Therese Fessenden · 7 min
6 Dimensions for Assessing Usability Data in Analysis