Find Themes
Finding themes is about exploring the commonalities, differences, and relationships between the information you’ve gathered, in order to find meaning.
- Time:
- 30-60 Minutes
- Difficulty:
- Easy
- Materials:
- Post-it notes
- Markers
- Participants:
- design team
-
The HCD Toolkit
and all HCD methods are licensed under:
-
Have the team go to the wall or board where they have placed their key story and insight post-its and select the five most interesting quotes, observations and/or insights.
-
On a new board, sort these into categories or buckets, and then cluster the related ideas into themes.
-
Ask the team to look for patterns and consider the relationship between categories. Check to make sure the themes are at the same level and covering the same things. If a theme is too specific, find the bigger idea. If a theme is too broad or has too many different ideas under it, break it down into several buckets.
-
Try moving the post-its around to re-group the data in different ways. Get input from the team and/or expand to seek input from a broader group.
-
When finished sorting, give each theme a title on a new post-it. Make sure there is enough space between or below the different theme categories for the next step of identifying opportunities.
Creating themes can be an engaging and rewarding experience, as you start to group and transform the data before your eyes. Some good techniques for doing this are:
- Work together as a team to decide how to create buckets and themes.
- Arrange and re-arrange the post-its on the wall until the team is satisfied with the groupings.
- If there is a theme that contains almost all the post-its, break it out into several smaller themes.
- Try to see not only the connections, but also the relevant differences between the information.
Remember P.O.I.N.T., a handy technique for translating the problems and needs identified in storytelling into Insights and Themes.
P = Problems
O = Obstacles
I = Insights
N = Needs
T = Themes
Related Stories
How the Human Centred Design process was used to develop a strategic framework for young women's leadership in the Pacific region.
- Kiri Dicker
- Think Out Loud Consulting
- Story Location: Solomon Islands
- Applauds 1
- Views 1156
- Comments 1
Adapting agroforestry and organic methods to improve crop yields.
- Takang Pamela Manyo
- Dynamic Action Group (NGO)
- Story Location: Mamfe, Southwest, Cameroon
- Applauds 1
- Views 942
- Comments 0
Sweet Water Foundation (SWF) aquaponics training program, gained through experience at one of the leading aquaponics farms in the world, Sweet Water Organics, is developing an online badge-based platform which allows SWF to accelerate learning in the field of aquaponics, and to extend the reach to our partners throughout the world.
- Jesse Blom
- Story Location: Milwaukee, WI
- Applauds 0
- Views 712
- Comments 0
Sweet Water Foundation (SWF) aquaponics training program, gained through experience at one of the leading aquaponics farms in the world, Sweet Water Organics, is developing an online badge-based platform which allows SWF to accelerate learning in the field of aquaponics, and to extend the reach to our partners throughout the world.
- Jesse Blom
- Story Location: Milwaukee, WI
- Applauds 0
- Views 693
- Comments 0
This is our quest to end poverty for small farmers in rural India by helping them change the fundamental economic conditions under which they earn their livelihoods.
- Bryan Lee
- Kisan First
- Story Location: Nashik, Maharashtra, India
- Applauds 0
- Views 600
- Comments 0
A supportive system to clear farmland and make a useful product from invasive species by making charcoal and biochar can link reluctant community home owners and new small farm holders.
- William Steiner
- Story Location: Hawaii, HI
- Applauds 0
- Views 471
- Comments 1
This project connects women from urban and rural communities through the co-learning of farming, nutrition and entrepreneurship skills and the co-creation of a sustainable agriculture business to provide access to self-employment opportunities, education and healthy food.
- Kelly Babcock
- University of the Arts
- Story Location: Philadelphia, PA
- Applauds 5
- Views 1194
- Comments 5
After training more than 17,000 smallholder farmers in Kenya, Backpack Farm is developing the BETA version of its mobile extension program with a mission to reach and train more than 1 million new farmers by 2017.
- Rachel Zedeck
- Backpack Farm Agriculture Program
- Story Location: Nairobi, Kenya
- Applauds 0
- Views 442
- Comments 2
We want to help the farmers and schools in southwest Montana work together so that all students get to eat great food, learn where the food comes from, and the farmers earn a good living.
- Aubree Durfey
- Story Location: Bozeman, Montana
- Applauds 0
- Views 389
- Comments 1
IDEO.org Fellow Marika Shioiri-Clark describes a new IDEO.org flash project, working with a school in New Mexico to design ways to improve feedback loops between the school and the community. Download the project deliverable here.
- Marika Shioiri-Clark
- SOSHL Studio
- Story Location: Albuquerque, NM
- Applauds 0
- Views 635
- Comments 0
Discuss this Method
Tweet