Affinity Diagramming With Multi-voting

Affinity Diagramming With Multi-voting

Affinity diagramming is one of my favorite quality techniques. The technique is useful in any situation that requires generating ideas or getting a team talking. After generating ideas the technique provides a platform for organizing those ideas. I have used the technique for any scenario in which brainstorming would be appropriate, such as requirements definition, solution generation, process improvement and retrospectives. Affinity diagramming is generally a group technique with a facilitator acting as an anchor.

You need:

  1. Sticky notes (square, 3 inches by 3 inches)
  2. Flat surface (wall or other flat surface)
  3. White board/Flip Chart and dry erase markers

The process:

  1. The first step in the affinity diagramming process is for the facilitator to generate a set of framing questions that will be used to elicit ideas, comments or statements about area being studied. For example
  2. The second step is brainstorming. The facilitator will use the framing questions to get the team to generate ideas, comments or statements. As the team members think of a comment based on the framing question, they write the idea on a sticky note, call out what was written and then hold it up for the facilitator to post on the wall or other flat surfaces. Lettering on the sticky note should be able to be read from across the room. The brainstorming process goes on until the team has exhausted the subject or the time box is used up. Small sticky notes are used to ensure that each note contains a single, short idea.   Typically a team of 5 – 9 can generate 50 to 100 sticky notes during a 30 minute brainstorming session. The facilitator should ensure everyone participates. The facilitator should shift the seed questions as idea generation slows down.
  3. After the competing of the brainstorming phase, the team goes to the wall (or other surface) and re-arranges the sticky notes without conversation. The goal is to discover the relationships in the data. Time box the mute mapping exercise to about 1/3rd of the time of the brainstorming phase. A team is done re-grouping the data when everyone sits down or one item begins shifting spots without other changes. The facilitator should ensure everyone participates without talking. While atypical, not all items will be able to be grouped. Occasionally one or a few ideas will be outliers.
  4. After completing the mute mapping, the facilitator should walk the team through the groups of ideas that have been created. The facilitator begins listing off the entries in the group and then asking the team to name the group. The goal of this phase in the technique is to validate that each idea belongs in the group. The team is free to move notes to the groups if they fit better somewhere else.

Affinity diagramming with mute mapping is a tool to generate and sort a large number of ideas, comments or concepts into a more manageable order. Affinity diagramming is good for decision making, generating an initial product backlog, generating personas for user stories and retrospectives. Affinity diagramming with mute mapping might not be as versatile as duct tape, BUT it is close!