Affordances
Affordances
Definition
Affordances name the perceived and actual properties of an object that determine how it could possibly be used. The term was coined by ecological psychologist J.J. Gibson to describe the action possibilities that the environment offers to an animal. Donald Norman adapted the concept for design, arguing that affordances provide strong natural clues to the operations of things: "Plates are for pushing. Knobs are for turning. Slots are for inserting things into. Balls are for throwing or bouncing. When affordances are taken advantage of, the user knows what to do just by looking: no picture, label, or instruction is required." In architectural contexts, affordances refer to the ways built elements suggest their own use—door handles that afford pulling, flat plates that afford pushing, thresholds that afford crossing.
Key Thinkers
- donald norman — adapted Gibson's concept for design; affordances as visible clues to operation; "when simple things need pictures, labels, or instructions, the design has failed"
- J.J. Gibson — ecological psychology; affordances as action possibilities in the environment relative to an animal's capabilities
Related Concepts
- conceptual models — affordances help form accurate mental models of device operation
- embodiment — affordances are perceived through the body's capabilities for action
- thing ontology — the ontological status of objects and their relational properties
- everyday life — affordances as the action possibilities of the everyday object-world
Source Support
Sources in the wiki that discuss this concept:
- The Design of Everyday Things (Norman 1990) — central concept; "when affordances are taken advantage of, the user knows what to do just by looking"
- Design and Order in Everyday Life (Csikszentmihalyi 1991) — the "activity potential" of objects as the younger generation's criterion for cherishing them; objects as affording action, not contemplation.
Open Questions
- How does Norman's adaptation of affordances differ from Gibson's original ecological formulation?
- How do affordances operate at the architectural scale (not just object scale)?
- What is the relationship between affordances and Bourdieu's habitus — are affordances perceived through embodied dispositions?