How to Build an Affinity Diagram in ClickUp

Using ClickUp to build an affinity diagram is a powerful way to turn scattered ideas into clear, actionable themes your team can use to make better decisions.

This how-to guide walks you through the full process, from capturing raw ideas to organizing, labeling, and sharing your final diagram with your team.

What Is an Affinity Diagram in ClickUp?

An affinity diagram is a visual method to collect many ideas, group them by similarity, and reveal patterns in complex or messy information.

Inside ClickUp, you can recreate this process using tasks, custom fields, views, and collaboration features so your team can work together in real time or asynchronously.

Typical uses for an affinity diagram include:

• Brainstorming product features or improvements
• Organizing customer feedback and survey responses
• Sorting research notes and interview quotes
• Finding root causes of a problem or incident
• Planning projects with many moving parts

Prepare Your Workspace in ClickUp

Before you start grouping ideas, set up a dedicated area in ClickUp so your affinity diagram is organized and easy to navigate.

Create a Space or Folder in ClickUp

1. Open your ClickUp workspace.
2. Create a new Space or choose an existing one for your project.
3. Inside that Space, create a dedicated Folder named after the topic you are exploring (for example, “Customer Feedback Affinity Diagram”).

Keeping everything in one Space or Folder helps you stay focused and makes it easier for collaborators to find and contribute to the diagram.

Set Up a List for Your Affinity Diagram

1. In your Folder, create a new List for the affinity diagram.
2. Use a clear and descriptive name, like “Feature Ideas Affinity Diagram.”
3. Optionally, add a brief List description outlining the question you are trying to answer or the problem you want to solve.

This List will hold every idea as a separate task, which you will later group into themes.

Capture Ideas in ClickUp

The first phase of an affinity diagram is idea generation. In ClickUp, each idea becomes a task you can move, group, and refine.

Gather Raw Ideas as Tasks

1. Open the List you created for your affinity diagram.
2. For every idea, create a new task with a short, clear title.
3. Use the task description to add details, quotes, or examples if needed.
4. Encourage team members to add tasks directly or comment on existing ones to expand on ideas.

Keep this step judgment-free. The goal is to collect as many ideas as possible before you start grouping them.

Use ClickUp Views to Collect Input

You can use different views in ClickUp to accelerate idea capture:

• List view: Rapidly add many tasks in a simple table-style layout.
• Board view: Visually drag and drop ideas once you begin grouping.
• Form view: Turn the List into a form and share it so stakeholders can submit ideas without entering the workspace.

These options make it easy to involve subject-matter experts, customers, or partners in your brainstorming process.

Group Ideas into Themes in ClickUp

Once you have a large set of ideas, the next step is to cluster them into logical categories. In ClickUp, this happens by moving tasks and adding structure.

Drag and Drop in Board View

1. Switch your List to Board view.
2. Configure columns based on a temporary status or a custom field, such as “Theme.”
3. Start dragging task cards next to similar ideas.
4. Create new columns or theme values as you notice natural groupings.

At this stage, do not worry about the perfect name for each group. Focus on similarity and relationship between ideas.

Create ClickUp Themes with Custom Fields

1. From your List, add a Dropdown or Label custom field called “Theme.”
2. As you recognize patterns, create options like “Onboarding,” “Performance,” or “Usability.”
3. Apply the appropriate theme label to each task.
4. Use the Group By option in List or Board view to group by the Theme custom field.

Now your affinity diagram appears as clusters of tasks under each theme, making relationships and patterns easy to see.

Name and Refine Your ClickUp Affinity Groups

With rough groupings in place, refine and label each cluster so your diagram tells a clear story.

Define Clear Theme Titles in ClickUp

1. Review each group of tasks in your Theme-based view.
2. Look for the common thread tying ideas together.
3. Rename the Theme options to concise, specific labels that describe that thread.
4. Merge or split themes if any are too broad or too narrow.

Good theme names reflect the underlying insight, such as “Confusing First Login” instead of simply “UX.”

Use ClickUp Task Details to Add Insight

Enrich each group and idea with context:

• Add comments to highlight key patterns you see in a theme.
• Use subtasks to break down large, complex ideas.
• Attach files, screenshots, or research documents that support the tasks in a theme.
• Use tags to mark priority, risk, or type of feedback.

This extra detail transforms a simple cluster of ideas into a decision-ready analysis.

Prioritize and Turn Themes into Actions in ClickUp

The value of an affinity diagram comes from the actions it drives. In ClickUp, you can turn themes into structured work.

Rank Themes with ClickUp Fields

1. Add a Priority custom field or use ClickUp’s native priority flags.
2. For each theme, decide how important or urgent it is.
3. Use Custom Fields like Effort, Impact, or Votes to quantify importance.
4. Sort or filter your List view by these fields to see which themes to tackle first.

Ranking helps your team focus on high-value improvements instead of reacting to individual ideas in isolation.

Create Action Plans from Your Affinity Diagram

1. For each high-priority theme, create an Epic or parent task.
2. Convert related ideas into subtasks or link them to the Epic.
3. Assign owners, due dates, and statuses.
4. Add these Epics to relevant ClickUp views such as Gantt, Calendar, or Dashboard for ongoing tracking.

Now your affinity diagram is fully integrated into your project management workflow, not just a one-time exercise.

Collaborate and Share Your ClickUp Affinity Diagram

Affinity diagrams work best when they are visible and collaborative. ClickUp provides multiple ways to involve your team.

Invite Stakeholders to Review in ClickUp

• Share the List or Space with team members and stakeholders.
• Use comments and @mentions on tasks or themes to gather feedback.
• Create a dedicated Doc summarizing the key themes and link tasks or views inside the document.

Encouraging discussion around each group helps validate your themes and uncover new insights.

Present Your Diagram Using ClickUp Views

To present the final affinity diagram:

• Use Board view grouped by Theme to show clusters visually.
• Switch to List view with custom fields visible to highlight priority and impact.
• Capture screenshots or export data if you need to share outside ClickUp.

You can also embed views in a ClickUp Doc to create a single, polished report for leadership or clients.

Resources and Next Steps

To go deeper into the affinity diagram concept and see more examples, review the original guide on the ClickUp blog: Affinity Diagram Guide.

If you want professional help designing scalable workflows and documentation around ClickUp, you can explore consulting services at Consultevo.

By following these steps, you can use ClickUp to capture unstructured ideas, organize them into meaningful themes, and convert those insights into real work that moves your projects forward.

Need Help With ClickUp?

If you want expert help building, automating, or scaling your ClickUp workspace, work with ConsultEvo — trusted ClickUp Solution Partners.

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