02.19 // Affinity Diagramming Presentations

Syllabus | Class Box Folder | Affinity Diagramming Assignment

Teams present their research from observing Construction Junction

Students presented their insights that emerged from affinity diagramming their research of Construction Junction (CJ).

Areas of focus in students’ presentations included —

Using descriptive language. Examples:

I feel a sense of chaos from the layout of the space.

I feel like I’m in a maze because of the changing items.

This object has character and would look great in my house.

Addressing different stakeholders. Students observed CJ customers in reference to other customers, to themselves, to the environment, and to objects.

Students synthesize research findings

Addressing different types of users. Examples include:

Passive browsing (new customers) vs active browsing (experienced customers).

Customers motivated by practicality vs emotion.

Student synthesis of motivations behind purchasing decisions at CJ

Evaluating existing design. Clear communication of the mission, but poor customer-employee interactions.

Looking for positive / negative duality in observations. One observation was that the strong brand identity at CJ offers a sense of personality at the cost of feeling impenetrable or unprofessional.

Creating hypotheses of interest. One team noted “food is central to the employee community.”

Gauging emotion and the unseen.

Understaffing creates emotional and physical stressors to the employees.

Individuals have concerns and conflicts before they enter CJ.

Affinity diagramming helps distill research into insights.

By intentionally listening and looking for patterns, insights can emerge for further discussion or exploration.

Credit: Rick Paz