Home Assignment 3 : Affinity Diagram

Introduction

            An Affinity Diagram is a tool that gathers large amounts of language data (ideas, opinions, issues) and organizes them into groupings based on their natural relationships. The Affinity process is often used to group ideas generated by brainstorming. It is one of the seven management and planning tools.

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

1.      Draw out common themes from a large amount of information

2.      Discover previously unseen connections between various ideas or information

3.      Brainstorm root causes and solutions to a problem

            Because many decision-making exercises begin with brainstorming, this is one of the most common applications of affinity diagrams. After a brainstorming session there are usually pages of ideas. These won't have been censored or edited in any way, many of them will be very similar, and many will also be closely related to others in a variety of ways. What an affinity diagram does is start to group the ideas into themes.

Advantages	Disadvantages
Involves entire test team so they can all "own" the data	Can be time-consuming
Builds teamwork	Can be time-consuming
Consolidates lots of customer data into meaningful design criteria
Identifies customer work practices

  

Process sequence

Step 1: Describe the problem or issue

 Here the issue that we need to brainstorm is about the uses of old news paper.

Step 2: Generate ideas

The idea is generated by using the brainstorming session within the group members. Usually, the idea is generated by writing onto the separate sticky notes.

Step 3: Display ideas

The generated ideas are post on a chartpack, a wall, or a table in a random manner.

The uses of old newspaper

 use as umbrella when caught in rain                        protect car seats from muddy or wet clothing

 spread over outdoor benches to protect clothing                 put into loose shoes to tighten

stuff in leather shoes to preserve shape                            stuff in wet shoes overnight to dry

crumple and place in suitcase for couple of weeks to remove stale odors

use as mat when polishing shoes                                           stuff hats to keep their shape                                    

stuff leather handbags in storage                                     use as padding under a table cloth

wrap around candle bottoms so they'll fit holders tighter          store records between sheets

cover store windows when remodeling                     cover furniture when away on vacation

cover furniture when sanding or painting     

spread on floor underneath rug when shampooing

dampen and spread over window-panes before painting

 use to dry and polish window after washing                         fold to make a sheath for a knife

dampen a bit and use to clean typewriter keys                     make a hat when painting

place in closed windows to eliminate wind rattle

stuff under doors and in cracks to stop cold wind from coming in

use as a bounce reflector when taking flash photographs or use to reflect sunlight into shadow areas

 place a sheet in jar tops to tighten loose lids                        make unusual lamp shades

make dress patterns                           protect table when children are painting or gluing

use as wallpaper for a doll house                   make paper chains                 make paper dolls

make paper mache handicrafts              make kites                          make party hats

 occupy children by letting them color and paint the cartoons             make a child's play tent

use to raise height of child at table

use as a stepstool                    emergency pot holder                        emergency dust pan

cut out articles and make a scrap book on a specific. subject of interest to you


 use to remove heavy grease from oven                             start fires

roll, secure in middle with elastic and fringe one end to use to get rid of cobwebs

 use as a fan to make fires burn better                                  muffle a loud alarm clock

sharpen pencils by rubbing the point on newspaper

muffle the sound of a typewriter by using as a mat underneath

place under heavy objects on wooden tables

Step 4: Sort ideas into related groups

Group 1:

 use as umbrella when caught in rain                        protect car seats from muddy or wet clothing

spread over outdoor benches to protect clothing                  put into loose shoes to tighten

cover furniture when away on vacation                    

stuff under doors and in cracks to stop cold wind from coming in

use as a bounce reflector when taking flash photographs or use to reflect sunlight into shadow areas

emergency pot holder                        emergency dust pan              

Group 2:

stuff in leather shoes to preserve shape                            stuff in wet shoes overnight to dry

crumple and place in suitcase for couple of weeks to remove stale odors

cover furniture when sanding or painting                  make unusual lamp shades

dampen and spread over window-panes before painting       fold to make a sheath for a knife

protect table when children are painting or gluing       cover store windows when remodeling

make a hat when painting

Group 3:

use as mat when polishing shoes                       use to dry and polish window after washing

use to dry and polish window after washing                  use to remove heavy grease from oven

spread on floor underneath rug when shampooing  

dampen a bit and use to clean typewriter keys

roll, secure in middle with elastic and fringe one end to use to get rid of cobwebs

Group 4:

stuff hats to keep their shape                                     stuff leather handbags in storage     

use as padding under a table cloth                        store records between sheets

wrap around candle bottoms so they'll fit holders tighter                start fires

place in closed windows to eliminate wind rattle                  use as wallpaper for a doll house

make dress patterns               make paper chains                 make paper dolls
make paper mache handicrafts              make kites                          make party hats

occupy children by letting them color and paint the cartoons             make a child's play tent

use to raise height of child at table                            use as a stepstool

cut out articles and make a scrap book on a specific. subject of interest to you

use as a fan to make fires burn better                                   muffle a loud alarm clock
sharpen pencils by rubbing the point on newspaper
muffle the sound of a typewriter by using as a mat underneath
place under heavy objects on wooden tables                       

place a sheet in jar tops to tighten loose lids

 

Step 5: Create header for each group

 Emergency situation                 

Cover and protection

Cleaning tools

Tools and stuffs

Step 6: Draw the finish affinity diagram