Affinity diagram

The tool is commonly used within project management and allows large numbers of ideas stemming from brainstorming[2] to be sorted into groups, based on their natural relationships, for review and analysis.

[3][4] It is also frequently used in contextual inquiry as a way to organize notes and insights from field interviews.

It can also be used for organizing other freeform comments, such as open-ended survey responses, support call logs, or other qualitative data.

[6] In many cases, the best results tend to be achieved when the activity is completed by a cross-functional team, including key stakeholders.

The process requires becoming deeply immersed in the data, which has benefits beyond the tangible deliverables.