Affordance

In usability terms, Affordance refers to an object’s characteristics in relation to its function. For example, a well-designed button will look like it should be pressed or clicked. The button exhibits high affordance.

An affordance refers to all the actions that are possible with a specific object or element, depending on the user’s capabilities. For example, a cupboard has the potential to be opened but only if you can reach the handle. A car has the potential to be driven but only if you are able to open the car door, start the engine and so on. When designing digital products, the goal is to create elements whose affordances (i.e. possible actions) match the user’s expectations. For example, if you design a button, the user will likely expect to be able to click it.

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