Affordances
Examples of affordances in daily life
- Human Computer Interaction
Introduction
Affordance refers to the implicit clues provided by an object regarding how it can be interacted with. For example, when you see a door without a handle, you instinctively know to push rather than pull it. Another example is a coffee mug — even if you had never seen one before, you could probably guess how to pick it up.
In daily life, instances of both good and bad affordances are everywhere. Some objects are highly intuitive to use, whereas others lack clear interaction cues.
Good Affordances
Oven Mitts
Ikea’s oven mitts provide excellent affordance since their design instinctively mimics the shape of the human hand, making it obvious where the thumb and fingers should go. Additionally, since both gloves are identical, it does not matter which one goes on which hand. They also provide affordance for storage — they contain holes for hanging and can be stacked into each other for storage.
Toggle Switch
A switch is a classic example of good affordance. The design is incredibly simple and highly intuitive. The position of the switch encodes its state so you can tell even from afar what state it is in. Moreover, by design it can be pressed only one way at a time and it provides immediate tactile feedback on pressing. This means that there is no ambiguity on how to use it and about its current state.
Bad Affordances
Stove
Modern electric stoves often rely on flat touch interfaces for control. These touch sensors sit beneath the glass panel, but the printed markings on the surface can fade or erase over time due to extensive use and cleaning. When this happens, finding the power button becomes a guessing game — requiring users to blindly tap areas of the stove until it responds. A physical button or dial would have entirely prevented this issue.
Window
Window designs can vary significantly, but some fail to consider their surrounding environment. For example, the window shown below cannot be opened fully because its path is blocked by the wall-mounted shutter controller. As a result, opening the window creates an awkward obstacle in the room — a clear failure in spatial affordance.
