Article: An affordance is an action one can perform on an object or environment.
Additional meanings have developed, largely a result of misinterpretations. The original definition in psychology included all actions that are physically possible. When the concept was applied to design, it started also referring to only those possible actions which one is aware of.
The word is used in a variety of fields: perceptual psychology, cognitive psychology, environmental psychology, industrial design, human–computer interaction (HCI), interaction design, communication studies, instructional design, science, technology and society (STS), and artificial intelligence.
As action possibilities
Psychologist James J. Gibson originally introduced the term in his 1977 article "The Theory of Affordances" and explored it more fully in his book The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception in 1979. He defined affordances as all "action possibilities" latent in the environment, independent of an individual's ability to recognize them, but always in relation to agents (people or animals) and therefore dependent on their capabilities. For instance, a set of steps which rises four feet high does not afford the act of climbing if the actor is a crawling infant. Gibson's is the prevalent definition in cognitive psychology.
Affordances were further studied by Eleanor J. Gibson, wife of James Gibson, who created her theory of perceptual learning around this concept. Eleanor Gibson's book, An Ecological Approach to Perceptual Learning and Development explores affordances further.
Jakob von Uexküll had already discussed the concept in the early twentieth century, calling it the "functional tinting" () of organisms with respect to stimuli.
Laszlo Garai founded his brain theory among other concepts on that of affordance.
As perceived action possibilities
In 1988, Donald Norman appropriated the term affordances in the context of human–machine interaction to refer to just those action possibilities that are readily perceivable by an actor. Through his book The Design of Everyday Things, this interpretation was popularized within the fields of HCI and interaction design. It makes the concept dependent not only on the physical capabilities of an actor, but also the actor's goals, plans, values, beliefs, and past experiences. If an actor steps into a room containing an armchair and a softball, Gibson's original definition of affordances allows that the actor may throw the chair and sit on the ball, because this is objectively possible. Norman's definition of (perceived) affordances captures the likelihood that the actor will sit on the armchair and throw the softball. Effectively, Norman's affordances "suggest" how an object may be interacted with. For example, the size and shape of a softball obviously fit nicely in the average human hand, and its density and texture make it perfect for throwing. The user may also bring past experiences to bear with similar objects (baseballs, perhaps) when evaluating a new affordance.
Norman's 1988 definition makes the concept of affordance relational rather than subjective or intrinsic. This he deemed an "ecological approach", which is related to systems-theoretic approaches in the natural and social sciences. The focus on perceived affordances is much more pertinent to practical design problems from a human-factors approach, which may explain its widespread adoption.
Norman later explained that this restriction in meaning of the term had been unintended, and that he would replace the term by "perceived affordance" in any future revision of the book. However, the definition from his book has been widely adopted in HCI and interaction design, and both meanings are now commonly used in these fields.
Norman's adaptation of the concept has seen a further shift of meaning, in which the term affordance is used as an uncountable noun, referring to the easy discoverability of an object or system's action possibilities, as in "this web page has good affordance", or "this button needs more affordance". This has in turn given rise to a use of the verb afford – from which Gibson's original term was derived – in a way that is not consistent with its dictionary definition (to provide or make available). Designers and those in the field of HCI often use afford as meaning "to suggest" or "to invite".
The different interpretations of affordances, although closely related, can be a source of confusion in writing and conversation if the intended meaning is not made explicit and if the word is not used consistently. Even authoritative textbooks can be inconsistent in their use of the term.
False affordances
William Gaver divided affordances into three categories: perceptible, hidden, and false.
A false affordance is an apparent affordance that does not have any real function, meaning that the actor perceives nonexistent possibilities for action. A good example of a false affordance is a placebo button.
A hidden affordance indicates that there are possibilities for action, but these are not perceived by the actor. For example, it is not apparent from looking at a shoe that it could be used to open a wine bottle.
For an affordance to be perceptible, there is information available such that the actor perceives and can then act upon the existing affordance.
This means that, when affordances are perceptible, they offer a direct link between perception and action, and, when affordances are hidden or false, they can lead to mistakes and misunderstandings.
See also Usability Action-specific perception Form follows function Ambient optic array References Additional reading
The role of affordances in evolution and niche construction is discussed by The role of affordances in the evolutionary process considered: A niche construction perspective http://www.academia.edu/1570495/The_Role_of_Affordances_in_the_Evolutionary_Process_Reconsidered_A_Niche_Construction_Perspective
The role of affordances in agency is discussed by Affordances can invite behavior: Reconsidering the relationship between affordances and agency http://www.fmh.utl.pt/spertlab/images/files/WithagenEtAl2012.pdf 10.1016/j.newideapsych.2011.12.003
Affordance and computation is discussed by Gibson’s affordances and Turing’s theory of computation http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/2606/1/Affordances_and_Computation_APA_style_%28LSERO%29.pdf
External links
A series of slides concerning theories of vision and (incidentally) the role of affordances and some interesting optical illusions concerning affordances http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/research/projects/cogaff/misc/talks/sloman-beyond-gibson.pdf What's vision for, and how does it work? From Marr (and earlier) to Gibson and beyond |
Source: skip to main | skip to sidebar 2 dic 2010 Affordance Critical Journal Ep.09
Yesterday we have to writte down a text describing our projects and swap it with each other in order to bring new ideas to the projects of our colleagues... The text I received was not that well written but it containned this interesting concept that
wikipedia
helped me to understand.
An affordance is a quality of an object, or an environment, that allows an individual to perform an action.
Psychologist James J. Gibson originally introduced the term in his 1977 article "The Theory of Affordances" and explored it more fully in his book The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception in 1979. He defined affordances as all "action possibilities" latent in the environment.
Jakob von Uexküll had already discussed the concept in the early twentieth century, calling it the "functional colouring" (funktionale Tönung) of objects.
In 1988, Donald Norman appropriated the term affordances in the context of human–machine interaction to refer to just those action possibilities that are readily perceivable by an actor. It makes the concept dependent not only on the physical capabilities of an actor, but also the actor's goals, plans, values, beliefs, and past experiences. If an actor steps into a room with an armchair and a softball, Gibson's original definition of affordances allows that the actor may throw the recliner and sit on the softball, because that is objectively possible. Effectively, Norman's affordances "suggest" how an object may be interacted with.
For example, the size and shape of a softball obviously fits nicely in the average human hand, and its density and texture make it perfect for throwing. The user may also bring past experiences to bear with similar objects (baseballs, perhaps) when evaluating a new affordance.
Norman's adaptation of the concept has seen a further shift of meaning, in which the term affordance is used as an uncountable noun, referring to the property of an object or system's action possibilities being easily discoverable, as in "this web page has good affordance," or "this button needs more affordance."
This has then in turn given rise to a use of the verb afford – from which Gibson's original term was derived – in a way that is not consistent with its dictionary definition. Rather than "to provide" or "to make available", designers and those in the field of HCI often use afford as meaning "to suggest" or "to invite".
William Gaver divided affordances into three categories: perceptible, hidden, and false. A false affordance is an apparent affordance that does not have any real function. A good example of a false affordance is a placebo button.
A placebo button, also called an idiot button, is a push-button with apparent functionality that actually has no effect when pressed, analogous to a placebo. In other cases, a control like a thermostat may not be connected.
Although non-functional, the buttons can give the user an illusion of control. In some cases the button may have been functional, but may have failed or been disabled during installation or maintenance. Only in relatively rare cases will the button have been deliberately designed to do nothing.
And this is what I did. A bottle with many mouthpieces and with different cups of many flavours that will drive to the user into the placebo of a flavoured water.
Workshop: Stop and Look (do first, reflect later) by Ralph Ball
The novelist E.M. Foster's aunt once said to him: "How can I tell what I think until I see what I say". It has been sugested in art and design terms this can be extended to: "How can I tell what I think until I see what I amke and do."
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