Free research tool
An affinity diagram groups many raw notes, like interview quotes, survey answers, or feature requests, into labeled themes so patterns in customer feedback become obvious. Paste your notes here to suggest groups automatically, sort them into themes, dot vote, and export the result, privately in your browser with no signup.
Step 1
Paste interview quotes, survey answers, support tickets, or feature requests one per line, upload a .txt or .csv file, or load an example.
Step 2
Press Suggest groups to cluster notes by shared keywords, or create themes and drag or move notes into them yourself.
Step 3
Rename each theme so it states the underlying need, then merge overlapping themes and split mixed ones.
Step 4
Turn on dot voting, set the participants and votes each, and let everyone place votes on the themes that matter most.
Step 5
Download a PNG of the diagram, a CSV of every note with its theme, or a ranked Markdown summary for your PRD or research report.
The KJ method, named after Jiro Kawakita, is the classic way to run an affinity mapping session with a team. Use these five steps with this tool or with paper sticky notes.
Write one observation, quote, or idea per note. Keep the customer's words and avoid summarizing too early.
Group notes that feel related without debating them. Silence keeps loud voices from steering the themes.
Name each group with a short phrase that states the need, such as "Login is too slow", not just "Login".
Give everyone a few dots to place on the themes they think matter most. Ties break by how many notes a theme holds.
Turn the top themes into problems to solve, roadmap items, or follow-up research questions, and share the summary.
Suggest groups is a starting point, not the answer. It matches shared keywords, so notes that say the same thing in different words may land apart. Review every theme, and keep notes in Ungrouped when they do not fit yet.
An affinity diagram is a way to organize many pieces of qualitative data, such as interview quotes, survey answers, or feature requests, by grouping related notes into labeled themes. It turns a pile of feedback into a short list of patterns you can prioritize.
The KJ method is the original affinity diagramming technique created by Japanese anthropologist Jiro Kawakita. A team writes one idea per note, sorts the notes into groups in silence, names each group, votes on the most important themes, and turns the top themes into actions.
A mind map starts from one central topic and branches outward, top down. An affinity diagram works bottom up: you start with many separate notes and let the themes emerge from what the notes have in common, which makes it better for making sense of research and customer feedback.
Most useful affinity diagrams have 20 to 200 notes sorted into 4 to 10 themes. This tool handles up to 500 notes of 500 characters each, and Suggest groups can propose 2 to 12 themes that you can then rename, merge, or split.
Yes. Your notes are processed entirely in your browser and autosave to this device's local storage. Nothing is uploaded, there is no account, and your notes are never stored in cookies or on a server. Clearing your browser data deletes the diagram, so export a CSV if you want a copy.
Sketch freely on a blank canvas when you need drawings and shapes, not structured themes.
Open toolPlot your top themes by impact and effort to decide what to build first.
Open toolWrite the survey that collects the open-ended answers you will group here.
Open toolScore your Net Promoter Score, then group the comments behind it into themes.
Open toolTurn the winning themes into cards and track the work to done.
Open toolBuild rating questions to measure how strongly users feel about each theme.
Open toolAn affinity diagram is a snapshot. A FeatureVote board collects feature requests continuously and lets customers vote on them, so your themes stay current and you can tell voters when their request ships.
Try FeatureVote free