IMPORTANCE OF AFFORDANCE THEORY IN USER-EXPERIENCE DESIGN

WHAT IS AFFORDANCE ?

Affordances are properties of objects which show users the actions they are going to take. Users should be able to perceive affordances without having to believe the thanks to use the items , i.e., a button are often designed to seem as if it must be turned or pushed.

WHAT ARE DIFFERENT KIND OF AFFORDANCE?

Perceptual information can be divided into three categories: 

1. Perceptible affordance -  Perceptual information are present and users are reacting.
2. Hidden affordance - Perceptual information are not present but still users are reacting.
3. False affordance - Perceptual information are present but users are not reacting.

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT FOR DESIGNERS?

1. To get spontaneous / intuitive  reactions from target users.
2. To improve user effectiveness and efficiency of the task.
3. To design a better and minimalistic user interface.  

EXAMPLES OF AFFORDANCE

#Example 01:

The mouse movement manifest in the form of the pointer or a hand to click something. this allowed me to click close select, move, etc. various items on scree. I perceived that mouse + pointer = action.

#Example 02: 

 

A hidden affordance will only appear when certain conditions are present. For instance, making a word clickable only on hover. The affordance is not present until the user discovers it and interacts with it.

#Example 03:

  

 

A false affordance will only appear as clickable button but its not active as in the amazon prime message icon is present but its not active.

REFERENCE:

https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/affordances

https://www.primevideo.com

https://www.myntra.com/kurtas/w/w-women-brown--navy-blue-striped-straight-kurta/6920472/buy

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mouse-cursor-hand-pointer.svg