VotablyAffinity Map
Sort the sticky-note pile into signal
Paste in a pile of notes, drag them into groups as themes emerge, and label the clusters once they've settled — not before.
Best for: Making sense of brainstorm output or research notes
Free.No login for participants.One link.
How it works
Bulk-paste or import your notes — one per line.
Drag related notes together; new groups form as you go.
Label clusters once they stop moving.
Send cluster themes to a Priority Matrix, or export.
What is affinity mapping?
Affinity mapping, also called affinity diagramming, is a way to make sense of a pile of loose notes, ideas from a brainstorm, quotes from user interviews, or feedback from a survey, by sorting them into groups before naming anything. Facilitators sometimes call the underlying technique the KJ method, after Jiro Kawakita, who first described sorting unstructured notes into clusters as a step in its own right.
The rule that makes affinity mapping work is sorting first, labeling second. Notes get dragged next to other notes that feel related, without agreeing on why yet, and only once a cluster stops changing does the group name it. Naming too early tends to force notes into a category that does not really fit, just because the label already exists.
Votably runs affinity mapping as a shared board: paste or import a pile of notes, one per line, and every participant can drag notes into groups from their own device as the clusters take shape. Once a cluster settles, the facilitator labels it, and the labeled themes can be sent straight into a Priority Matrix session to rank what to do about them.
Related tools
Why Votably instead of a whiteboard template?
An affinity diagram tool usually means a Miro or Mural board, which needs a paid or logged-in account before anyone can drag their own note into a cluster. Votably is a free affinity diagram tool with no login: participants open a share link, add a display name, and sort notes from their phone or laptop alongside everyone else. The facilitator gets an admin link to manage the board and reopen it later, and once clusters settle, their themes can be sent on to another work tool instead of getting retyped.
Questions people ask
- Is there a free affinity mapping tool for teams?
- Yes. Votably's affinity mapping tool is free for teams, with no login for participants and no account needed from the facilitator. Everyone joins with a display name and drags notes into clusters from their own device.
- Is there a free affinity diagram tool I can use online?
- Yes. Votably is a free affinity diagram tool that runs online with no login for participants. Notes can be pasted or imported in bulk, and everyone drags related notes together until themes emerge and the group can label them.
- What is affinity mapping used for?
- Affinity mapping is used to find themes in unstructured input, such as brainstorm ideas, user research notes, or open-ended survey answers, by grouping related items together before naming the groups, rather than sorting them into categories decided in advance.
- How is affinity mapping different from dot voting?
- Affinity mapping sorts unstructured notes into themes, while dot voting ranks an already-defined list of options, so many teams run Votably's affinity mapping first and its dot voting tool second on the resulting themes.
- Can I bulk-import notes instead of typing them one by one?
- Yes. Notes can be pasted in bulk, one per line, into Votably's affinity mapping tool, and then dragged into clusters from there as the group starts to see themes in the raw input.