Data Collection: Affinity Diagram

Raw Data

Synthesis

Finished Diagram (digital version)

This diagram organizes issues in the three categories of campus safety, student safety, and parental/guardians concerns.

What We Learned from the Affinity Diagram

The affinity diagram not only helped us revisit the interviews we conducted for information, but also gave the data we collected some visual representation. What surprised us is that despite all of us conducting interviews with Rutgers students, the different backgrounds and lifestyles of each student gave us varying results that we can use to facilitate our application. With the raw data, we picked up on similarities between the answers of the interviewees, which led us to creating categories that the raw data could be assembled under. We noticed that there was a consistent concern about safety in the off-campus areas of the city of New Brunswick, however a little more variety in concerns about on-campus areas. We also noticed that a very common tactic many students employ to stay safe is to travel in groups, which can sometimes prove to be unreliable if one person wants to do something different than the rest. Finally we picked up on some hesitation to share too much with parents, which has lead us to consider allowing users the option to select other emergency contacts as long as they are of age. Working with all the team members together on the affinity diagram sparked thoughtful conversations and collaboration amongst the group. We got a better understanding of what elements of the project we need to work on, and solidified future plans we have for our application. The main theme was to create visual and tangible material from verbal conversations, and we learned that the visualization of the topics we are working on helps benefit our thought processes.