Affinity Diagrams
Affinity diagrams have a number of different uses, from sorting out list of issues, to relating apparently unrelated ‘things’. At Wiliam we use them to study affinities or relationships between different sorts of content, in order to direct us to appropriate navigational structures.
Affinity diagrams in their crudest forms allow you to sort through apparently unrelated content and group them in to piles of related content, often using post-it notes or index cards. Once you have a series of ‘piles’ of content, you can then try to label or name these piles with labels which describe what relates the items of content to each other.
Once grouped and labelled, you have the back-bone of your navigation and it’s then as simple as applying some basic usability rules and you have an appropriate navigational structure.
Alternatives to this simple paper based process include online card sorting, with tools such as Web Sort or Optimal sort to more involved user testing of existing or proposed site structures through tools such as Tree Jack.
Although these online tools are more involved in setting up initially and often have small fees to run them, the results are very compelling and with the more advanced option providing you with excellent and clear results, the extra effort is well worth it.
Related blogs: Online card sorting
