This material has been developed by Georgia Tech HCI faculty, and continues to evolve. Contributors include Gregory Abowd, Jim Foley, Diane Gromala, Elizabeth Mynatt, Jeff Pierce, Colin Potts, Chris Shaw, John Stasko, and Bruce Walker. Comments directed to are encouraged. Permission is granted to use with acknowledgement for non-profit purposes. Last revision: January Requirements Gathering & Task Analysis – Part 4 of 5 Why, What and How – Making Sense of All the Data

Introduction to HCI Goal - Organize Information Organizing the information blends in with the step of documenting the results Group process - compare notes Several tools can be used to facilitate  Affinity diagrams (card sorting)  Flow charts  Task analysis diagraming

Introduction to HCI From Interaction Design, Preece Rogers and Sharp Affinity Diagram - from Card Sorting Cards are post-it notes from interviews, focus groups, etc.

Introduction to HCI Affinity diagrams Brings issues and insights about customers/users together  Fastest and best way Affinity wall a communication tool to stimulate design thinking Work bottom-up  Group individual notes, then group these groups, then these, then these  Of course use colored post-its!

Introduction to HCI

Affinity diagram Let the data indicate the groupings and the labels for the groups Use voice of the customer (I do this…) Important to retain individual variation Then walk the diagram and get design ideas from it

Introduction to HCI Affinity diagram Many ways to build the diagram – purpose is to push your understanding of user and key distinctions Look at data (note) and think “what is the point really about?”

Introduction to HCI Overview of process Everyone gets 20 notes to start Moderator leads teams through process  Get this first set up on the wall in natural groupings – do as a group  Then do it individually  Then label blue in ‘I’ language  Then label pink, then green (abstract)

Introduction to HCI Posting notes Rules Allowed to move notes without discussion/argument Note can only go in one column Fit in questions and design ideas Have pile of ‘don’t fit’ notes – try later Junk category – eg. demographics Split notes with more than one idea on them

Introduction to HCI Step 1: posting yellow notes Start with the team – read a note that is not a question nor design idea and start a column Ask if anyone has one that fits in that column – read aloud and post Add columns as needed Goal – 3-6 notes in each column (don’t want to lose distinctions) Repeat until all are posted  If add new column, shout it out so others know  Try not to start new columns – push to fill 1-2 note columns Big finish – set a deadline – hurry up

Introduction to HCI Step 2: posting blue notes Break up into pairs of team members Start labeling longest columns  Goal is columns with 2-6 notes  Consider how to break up long columns Blue notes tell you what matters in the groupings below – characterize user and identify issues important for design  Shouldn’t have to read notes below  ‘I’ focus

Introduction to HCI Step 3: temporary greens Walk the wall and identify initial themes  These are starting greens  Big steps in the process, communication strategies, how tools used, etc. Goal: 4-6 green labels in entire diagram Move blues under their greens Each people pair gets a green grouping to work with

Introduction to HCI Step 4: organizing greens Each pair restructures Blue labels under their Green to  Eliminate redundancies  Have Blues that are 2-6 notes long Write final Blue labels Create Pink categories by grouping like Blues (2-6 per category)  Tells you what matters in Blues below it Group Pinks under the Green (5-8)  Write final Green label  Not ‘I’

Introduction to HCI Affinity Diagramming Big steps in process – themes What matters in Blues What matters in Blues “I” characterization “I” characterization One data item

Introduction to HCI Rolling in new data Can do this in two passes  See missing data, make sure to get it  Adjust interviews as needed Add to diagram Adjust, clean up, re-organize as needed

Introduction to HCI Remember … … your goal is to create new distinctions If columns/groups too big, burying these distinctions!