FDEs and the KJ Method | Turning Field Fragments into Structure, and Where AI Stops
The fragments collected through interviews, observation, and ethnography cannot be used for implementation as they are. To turn fragments into structure, our engineers use the thinking behind the KJ method, which the anthropologist Jiro Kawakita created for field research. The fourth article in our FDE practice series walks through the steps, one idea per card, gathering by meaning, diagramming, and writing up, using real field notes as material. It covers the boundary between what AI does and what people keep, how this differs from requirements consolidation in contract development, and how the structured result feeds the next week's implementation. The KJ method is a registered trademark of Kawakita Research Institute, which provides formal training.