Affinity Diagram

A data visualisation tool that can be used to explore and group people's thoughts or reactions to a set of concepts. Affinity diagrams are often used in user research and design thinking as an experimental technique for generating new ideas or solutions.

The emergent patterns in these visual representations can help identify which aspects your audience will respond well to, thus enabling decisions on the information architecture and next steps in the process.

It is important to note that affinity diagrams were initially developed for qualitative research but have since been adapted for quantitative research (though they are not typically used with statistical data).

More terms you might want to know

Card Sorting

A UX design technique in which you divide your users into groups, show them cards with different names for unrelated objects and ask them to categorise them.

Kerning

The process of adjusting the spacing between individual letters to improve or avoid particular visual distortions.

Type Size

The height of a font, measured in points or pixels.

Left-aligned

Text that flows from left to right and is the default reading direction of a page with its content aligned on the left margin.

Rule of Thirds

A rule of thumb used in photography to create more visually appealing images which states that an image should be composed so that the subject or focus of the image occupies one-third of the picture space, with two equal vertical lines dividing their composition into two.

Uppercase

Also known as caps, a type property that specifies that all letters in a body of text are capitalised.

Hero Image

The primary graphic that appears at the top of a webpage, designed to grab people's attention.

Typesetting

The process of arranging type to make written material readable. The arrangement of type involves decisions about individual letters and words (e.g. line spacing, letter spacing, and word spacing) and more significant page layout decisions (e.g., margins, headline position on the page).

Brand

A name, symbol or other distinctive feature that distinguishes one business's product from another's, often associated with a logo, design, slogan and other items.

Pixel

A pixel, or a picture element, is the smallest addressable element in a display device.

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