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The Affordances theory

وتقنية المعلومات

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J. J. Gibson (1977,

1979). - in the

ecological psychology

field.

Norman (1999) -in the

areas of graphic design

and human computer

interaction.

The Affordances theoryGibson’s Definition:

• The affordances of the environment as

“what it offers the animal, what is

provides or furnishes, either for good or

ill. An affordance refers to both the

environment and the animal and implies

the complementarity of the animal and

the environment” (Gibson, 1979, p. 127).

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The Affordances theoryNorman’s Definition:

• “The perceived and actual properties of

the thing, primarily those fundamental

properties that determine just how the

thing could possibly be used” (Norman,

2002, p. 9).

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The Affordances theoryDefinitions:

• McLoughlin and Lee (2007) define an

affordance in the same way as Gibson, in

other words, “an affordance is a ‘can do’

statement that does not have to be

predefined by a particular functionality,

and refers to any application that enables

a user to undertake tasks in their

environment, whether known or

unknown to him/her” (p.666).

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The Affordances theoryGibson’s affordances:

• To Gibson, affordances are relationships.

They exist naturally: they do not have to

be visible, known, or desirable.

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The Affordances theoryGibson’s affordances

McGrenere & Ho (2000) present three fundamental properties of Gibson’s affordance:

• An affordance exists relative to the action capabilities of a particular actor.

• The existence of an affordance is independent of the actor’s ability to perceive it.

• An affordance does not change as the needs and goals of the actor change. (p.1)

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The Affordances theoryNorman’s affordances:

• In Norman’s perspective, “affordances

provide strong clues to the operations of

things. When the affordances are taken

advantage of, the user knows what to do

just by looking: no pictures, labels or

instructions are required. When simple

things need pictures, labels or

instructions, the design has failed”

(Norman, 2002, p. 9).

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The Affordances theoryNorman’s affordances:

• Norman’s concept of affordance, there

are real affordances and perceived

affordances.

• The ‘affordances gap’. This gap occurs

when the user does not understand the

intended actions of the designed object.

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The Affordances theory

• According to this theory, our interaction

with the environment is based upon our

perception of what it affords to us. As an

example, our perception of a tree

depends upon its size and shape; which

affords climbing or resting under it.

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20(ALIBRAHIM,2014)

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