Because the word has been used increasingly loosely -- as you've described -- I don't use it any more. When I used it, I wound up having to go through an explanation of what an affordance really is -- or why it's different from what they think it means. Not using the term saves me the Battle of the Competing Definitions...and I wind up where I want to much more quickly than I otherwise do.
Katie At 5:57 PM -0700 3/19/08, Christopher Hlavaty wrote: >In the discipline of IxD, the word has been used to define a possible >action perceived by a user within some environment (Norman 1988). In the >classic example, the affordance of a door with a flat metal plate is >"push." The affordance resolves to a verb, an action to be performed. > > > >However, of late, I've seen the word used loosely to describe the clues >that suggest an object's possible actions. Applied in a colloquial sense >to the classic example above, the "affordance" is the flat metal plate. >Another example of this usage would be gloss applied to the visual >design of a UI button. The gloss itself is the affordance, as opposed to >the action "click". > > > >I'm curious as to the community's opinion on this matter. How do you use >the word in your day to day discussions? Is it appropriate to use the >term both ways? > > > >Appreciate your opinions, > > > >-- chris hlavaty > >________________________________________________________________ >Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! >To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe >List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines >List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help -- ---------------- Katie Albers [EMAIL PROTECTED] ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
