UX designLesson 1 of 1 in the course Ergonomics and human factors

Affordance Theory: Ecological, Design, and Educational Accounts

5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 5 match pairs · 5 fill-in sentences · English

Save course
Lesson progress
0 / 5

Your progress is kept in this browser only.Sign up to save it

Summary

Affordance describes what an environment makes possible for an individual. This lesson introduces James J. Gibson’s ecological account and explains why affordances depend on the relationship between an environment and the abilities, needs, and intentions of the person or animal encountering it.

Psychologist James J. Gibson introduced the term affordance in his 1966 book The Senses Considered as Perceptual Systems and developed it further in The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception (1979). He described affordances as what the environment provides or furnishes to an animal, for good or ill.

All flashcards

What is an affordance in Gibson’s ecological account?
What the environment provides or furnishes to an animal, beneficially or harmfully, in relation to its capacities and circumstances.
How did Norman’s design-oriented account characterize affordances?
As action possibilities that an actor can readily perceive, shaped by factors such as goals, abilities, beliefs, and experience.
What is a signifier in design?
A perceivable cue that indicates where an action should occur or how it can be performed.
What are Gaver’s three categories of affordance?
Perceivable possibilities that are noticed, hidden possibilities that are missed, and false possibilities that appear available but are not.
What does Davis’s mechanisms-and-conditions framework examine?
How technologies shape action for different people under particular social, material, and institutional conditions.

Quiz questions

  1. Which statement best distinguishes Gibson’s account of affordances from Norman’s design-oriented account?Answer: Gibson described environmental possibilities for action; Norman emphasized possibilities an actor can readily perceive.
  2. A touchscreen permits tapping, while a highlighted, labeled button shows where to tap. What does the button primarily provide?Answer: A signifier that directs the user to an action location.
  3. A control appears to operate a device, but activating it has no effect. How does Gaver’s framework classify this apparent possibility?Answer: A false affordance
  4. Which set names mechanisms in Davis’s framework for how technology may shape social action?Answer: Request, encourage, discourage, refuse, and allow
  5. Which set contains the five dimensions in Nguyen’s framework for how affordances become learning opportunities?Answer: Perceptibility, valence, compositionality, normativity, and intentionality

Based on the Wikipedia article Affordance, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.

More in UX design

All UX design lessons
UX designUX Research Methods, ResearchOps, and Ethics5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 4 gamesPlay free →UX designHick’s Law: Choice Time, Information, and Interface Design5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 4 gamesPlay free →UX designUI Design: User-Centered Methods, Usability, and ISO 92415 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 4 gamesPlay free →