21st
May
2001
Affordances, conventions and design
“The word ‘affordance’ was invented by the perceptual psychologist J. J. Gibson (1977, 1979) to refer to the actionable properties between the world and an actor (a person or animal). To Gibson, affordances are relationships. They exist naturally: they do not have to be visible, known, or desirable. I originally hated the idea: it didn’t make sense.”