Affordance
The Basic Idea
Consider a human, a dog, and a shoe. For the human, the shoe enables them to carry out a range of actions including walking, running, kicking a ball, jumping, and stomping. For the dog, the shoe might allow them to complete other actions such as chewing, tearing, catching, or resting their head (all dependent on the dog’s mood at the time).
Although the human and the dog are interacting with the same shoe, what the shoe can be and is used for differs depending on who is interacting with it. That is, the same object can afford a variety of actions to different users.
An affordance is the relationship between the properties of an object and the capability of the user to determine just how the object should be used. In other words, affordances refer to the potential uses that an object or environment offers to an individual. For example, a chair affords sitting, a door handle affords grasping and turning, and a computer mouse affords pointing and clicking. We use signifiers, or perceptible cues and signals, to discover what actions are possible with the things we encounter.
One of the most important things to remember about affordances is that they are defined by the relationship between the user and the object. More specifically, an affordance is not solely determined by the properties of the object but is also influenced by what a particular user can do with an object based on their abilities.
A coffee mug, for example, affords an adult drinking, yet for a baby, it doesn’t. They cannot grasp the handle and don’t have the strength to pick it up. Similarly, affordances depend on the user’s needs and preferences at the time; coffee is likely to be appealing for an adult, while a baby would probably prefer another drink like milk or juice.
An affordance cuts across the dichotomy of subjective-objective and helps us to understand its inadequacy. It is equally a fact of the environment and a fact of behavior. It is both physical and psychical, yet neither. An affordance points both ways, to the environment and to the observer.
James J. Gibson, The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception
About the Author
Dr. Lauren Braithwaite
Dr. Lauren Braithwaite is a Social and Behaviour Change Design and Partnerships consultant working in the international development sector. Lauren has worked with education programmes in Afghanistan, Australia, Mexico, and Rwanda, and from 2017–2019 she was Artistic Director of the Afghan Women’s Orchestra. Lauren earned her PhD in Education and MSc in Musicology from the University of Oxford, and her BA in Music from the University of Cambridge. When she’s not putting pen to paper, Lauren enjoys running marathons and spending time with her two dogs.
