MENTAL MODEL · M3539

KJ Method / Affinity Diagram

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Updated 2026-07-31

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INTRODUCTION

English translation pending.

CORE DEFINITION

A qualitative synthesis method developed by Japanese anthropologist Jiro Kawakita in the 1960s and also known as the affinity diagram. Raw statements, ideas, or observations are written on individual cards and then sorted by felt affinity, meaning which cards seem to belong together, rather than by a predefined scheme. Each cluster receives a label capturing its theme, and clusters are then merged into higher levels. The essential constraint is bottom-up order: the framework must emerge from the material, so imposing categories in advance defeats the method.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

- Chaos to Order: turn fifty scattered interview notes into a handful of themes you can act on. - Emergent Framing: let categories come out of the data instead of forcing an existing model. - Silent Grouping: have people sort without debate first, which surfaces shared intuition before argument.

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

Language data from interviews and open questions is high in volume and low in structure, so analytical reading quickly saturates working memory. Externalizing each item onto a card reduces the load to a visual comparison task, where similarity judgments are fast and reliable. Grouping by felt affinity draws on tacit pattern recognition that people cannot easily articulate, and naming each group forces that pattern into an explicit claim that can then be tested. The resulting hierarchy is a compression of the raw data, not a projection onto it.

MINIMUM ACTION

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Practice this model in one real situation:

Write one idea, quote, or observation per card, keeping the original wording. 2. Spread all cards out and sort them silently by feel, setting aside any card you are unsure about. 3. Name each cluster with a phrase that states its theme, not just its topic. 4. Merge clusters into a second level until the structure stabilizes. 5. Review the hierarchy against the raw cards to confirm nothing important was absorbed.

Check to track your progress (stored locally)

Learning progress0%

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Source support: Explicit

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en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affinity_diagramZH · Explicit
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