Affordance
American psychologist James J. Gibson coined the term in his 1966 book, The Senses Considered as Perceptual Systems,[1] and it occurs in many of his earlier essays.
[2] His best-known definition is from his 1979 book, The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception:The affordances of the environment are what it offers the animal, what it provides or furnishes, either for good or ill. ...
Gibson developed the concept of affordance over many years, culminating in his final book, The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception[4] in 1979.
The key to understanding affordance is that it is relational and characterizes the suitability of the environment to the observer, and so, depends on their current intentions and their capabilities.
[7] In 1988, Donald Norman appropriated the term affordances in the context of Human–Computer Interaction to refer to just those action possibilities that are readily perceivable by an actor.
Norman's definition of (perceived) affordances captures the likelihood that the actor will sit on the armchair and throw the softball.
Norman later explained that this restriction of the term's meaning had been unintended, and in his 2013 update of The Design of Everyday Things, he added the concept "signifiers".
In the digital age, designers were learning how to indicate what actions were possible on a smartphone's touchscreen, which didn't have the physical properties that Norman intended to describe when he used the word "affordances".
[12] 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.
[11][12] When affordances are used to describe information and communications technology (ICT) an analogy is created with everyday objects with their attendant features and functions.
As an example, the hammer can be grasped, in principle, with many hand poses and approach strategies, but there is a limited set of effective contact points and their associated optimal grip for performing the goal.
In the context of fire safety, affordances are the perceived and actual properties of objects and spaces that suggest how they can be used during an emergency.
By understanding and applying affordance principles, designers can create environments that intuitively guide occupants towards safety, reduce evacuation time, and minimize the risk of injury during a fire.
Incorporating affordance-based design in building layouts, emergency equipment placement, and evacuation procedures ensures that users can effectively interact with their surroundings under stressful conditions, ultimately improving overall fire safety.
Positive affordances, or learning opportunities, are only effective in developing learner's language when they perceive and actively interact with their surroundings.
