In architecture and design, an affordance is a part of something that serves a function, like the handle on a cup or the notch in a dictionary where you put your thumb. In language we have affordances, too, such as words that indicate a place for someone else to speak or respond. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Affordance”
Here’s a word that I heard again this week, but I don’t think I ever previously understood exactly what it means.
It’s the word affordance.
Do you know the word affordance?
Affordance.
In architecture and design, it refers to a part of an object or a building or a thing or even in user interface designed for computers, a part that you can do something with.
So the handle on your cup is an affordance.
Really?
A button on the front of a machine is an affordance.
A latch or a switch or even like the thumb places where you put your thumbs in a dictionary, we know it’s got the thumb cutouts, that’s an affordance.
An edge that you can grab is an affordance.
Sometimes in language we have affordances.
We offer opportunities for someone else to speak or to take a turn or we give them an opportunity to laugh or to express dismay or excitement.
And affordance, it’s a really interesting concept.
I’d never heard that word.
Affordance.
So, again, the simplest form is a handle on a cup.
Yeah, I love that.
