Affinity sorting

Affinity sorting


One of the first things you can do when it comes to prioritizing ideas is to sort them out.

To do this you can follow a technic that academics  and smart people like to call affinity sorting, mapping or diagramming. 

Let's have a bit of a serious moment with a  description from Wikipedia

The affinity diagram is a business tool used to organize ideas and data. It is one of the Seven Management and Planning Tools. People have been grouping data into groups based on natural relationships for thousands of years; however, the term affinity diagram was devised by Jiro Kawakita in the 1960s and is sometimes referred to as the KJ Method. — Wikipedia


Yeah, in normal human terms, the goal is to sort stuff by categories that feel natural to the group. That's it.

If you are working with sticky notes put next to each others ideas that are in the similar category. When ideas are exactly the same stack them on top of each other with a slight margin (as shown in the picture). This allows you to see where there is already a lot of interest about an idea in the group.

When to do this?

This type of sorting can help you realize that as a group you have a lot of ideas that are about technology, but non that use the human workforce as a resource. As a facilitator this can help you motivate people to find more ideas in areas where the potential isn't fully explored yet.

Therefore, the sorting and mapping process is something  that I recommend you do a few times in the middle of the ideation process and don't wait only until the  end to do it. 

Basics of Ideation for Innovation (Alpha version)

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  • 🔴 This course in an alpha version

Introduction

  • Lovely to meet you
  • What you'll learn and what you won't1

WTF is ideation?

  • WTF is ideation? Introduction
  • What is ideation?
  • What are the benefits of ideation?
  • The myth of creativity
  • What are common dangers and mistakes of ideation?

The core principles of ideation

  • The core principles of ideation: Introduction
  • Diverge
  • Quantity over quality
  • Pause criticism until later
  • Different people bring different ideas
  • Constraints and pressure help
  • Serendipity and context help
  • Based on research

What are the different types of ideations

  • What are the different types of ideations: Introduction
  • Group ideation
  • Solo ideation
  • Asynchronous or remote ideation
  • Crowd sourcing

A selection of ideation techniques

  • A selection of ideation techniques: Introduction
  • Brain dump
  • Silent brainstorming
  • Crazy eight
  • Brands like these
  • Fast idea generator
  • Mash-Up Innovation
  • Future scenarios and trends
  • Lotus blossom
  • Lightning demos
  • Ideation cards
  • A few good practices for every technic
  • Where to find more ideation techniques
  • Apps for the ideation process

How to prioritize ideas

  • How to prioritize ideas: Introduction
  • Affinity sorting
  • Dot voting
  • Multi parameters vote
  • Evaluation grid
  • Impact versus Effort Matrix
  • Mix the methods

How to run an ideation workshop

  • How to run an ideation workshop: Introduction
  • How to prepare an ideation workshop
  • The basic structure of an ideation workshop
  • The facilitator role in an ideation workshop
  • What happens after the ideation workshop?

Going further

  • Going further
  • Recommended books on ideation
  • Recommended academic papers on Introduction
  • Recommended videos on ideation
  • Recommended critical articles on ideation
  • Recommended resources in Portuguese1

End note

  • Thank you2
  • Licence