How to use this tool
- Set up. Type the room code your instructor gave you and press Join — if you opened a join link, the code is already filled in. Choose the reader role you’re working as and claim it with your first name. No code? Skip Join and work in this tab on your own.
- Your batch. Read each item in your subset. Write one line in your own words — who experienced what — then tag it with a theme or leave it unclustered. When your items are done, hold — your group refines together in your breakout room.
- Your breakout group’s map. Every theme anyone creates appears here with its count and each item’s one-liner. It updates for everyone as you work.
- Move to refining themes. When your whole group is ready, anyone presses the button under the map — one press moves everyone together. If some items aren’t worked yet, the button asks first.
- Refine your themes. Read the map aloud together. Merge two themes that are the same thing, rename a theme, or split one to show a difference. Each change updates the whole map and is confirmed where you made it. A link takes your group back to tagging if you moved too soon.
- Your map page. When your group is satisfied, build your group’s map page and open it in its own tab. Your themes are already on the wall in the main room — nothing to copy or paste.
Stage 1 of 2 · Code on your own. Read your batch and give every item a one-liner and a first theme — researchers call this solo pass coding the data.
Stage 2 of 2 · Decide the themes together. Read the whole map as a group, then merge, split, and rename until the themes hold. Researchers call this theme development — your first labels were codes; here they become themes.
Set up
Got a room code from your instructor — one short word, like maple? Type it below and press Join, and this tool connects to your breakout group so everyone sees the same map. If you opened a join link, the code is already filled in for you. No code? Skip Join: one browser can hold your whole breakout group, and you switch reader roles here to work each queue.
Your Batch: Read Your Subset and Code the Data
Read each item below. For each one, write a single line: Who experienced what, in your words. One line is enough — don't polish it.
Then, tag each item with a theme that describes the core experience. For example: “Former employer won’t verify hours.” You can tag more than one item with the same theme, if it fits.
You can also leave an item untagged, making it “unclustered.” An item that doesn’t fit anywhere stays unclustered; deciding what to leave out of themes is part of the method.
When an item says several things at once: pick the piece that feels most important, and let the line and the theme tag capture it. That pick is a judgment call, and making it is part of the method.
In your real work, one comment can carry more than one theme. In this workshop, one item gets one theme, and the second pass is where you can make changes to refine your theme.
Hold here. Your group moves to refining themes together, in your breakout room. Until then, watch your group’s map grow below as the others finish.
(moves your whole group — nothing is lost)
Your breakout group's map
Every theme anyone creates appears here with the number of items tagged with that theme. Under that, it shows each item's ID and the one-liner created by the person who read it.
This list is your breakout group's shared map. Your group will consider the whole map in the next step and decide what to merge, split, or move as you refine this map together.
Refine your themes
Read the map above together. One person leads reading aloud. Consider the item lines, not just the theme names, and ask two questions:
- Are any two of these themes the same thing?
- Should any one of them split to show difference?
You have three tools below, each performs one type of action.
Merge folds one theme into another: its items move over, and the old name leaves the map. To combine three or more themes, merge again; after each merge you land back on the merge menus. Move on when you have finished, or return as needed.
Rename changes a theme's name everywhere it appears.
Split lays out the items of a theme you select here, so your breakout group can make a call on each one — stay, or move to a new theme.
Every change updates the whole map for everyone, and a list confirming each change appears in the area you made the changes.
Your map page
Your themes are already on the wall in the main room — this tool sends them as you work, so there is nothing to copy or paste.
When your group is satisfied with your one-liners and themes, build your group’s map. Then, open it up and read it. There’s your affinity map!
Done
Good work. You completed the last step in this tool by building and reading your affinity map.