Week 4 | An Affordance

Affordance is the quality of an object or atmosphere which makes an individual perform an action.


My basic understanding of affordance reflects this in my mind.

With affordance, we know we have to press the holder in order to make the fire extinguisher to function. Affordance is what we learn from past, from experience and what makes our mind think of the thing in the way it works.

Even animals learn from observation. That's how some monkeys can ride a bicycle or do anything which they learn from human being and each other. We just need to take up space and need some times to realize what is the thing for and how will it works.

More example

Ask yourself, how do you turn on the shower. Without any instruction, your mind tells you nothing can do with it, you can't push it, you can't pull it but you can twist it. 

Affordance in Design

Why have affordance in design?

Designer has to design with intent and designing specific affordances to guide users.

Look at the photo above, it is a sound controller for windows. Just from looking at it, you know that you have to scroll it up to increase the volume and scroll it down to decrease it. More, just one shape of box for turn it into mute mood. 

You know it by an Affordance.

Muhammad Syafiq Bin Ridzuan

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