affordances

The term affordances refers to the ways in which individuals can interact with things in their environment.

I Typoed a Whole Post for the Language Log Chris 2005

I notice also that Walter uses the word affordances a couple of times and I think that is just the right word to use, because affordances means the opportunity is there but not the inevitability eg. bad teaching can destroy the best intentions of those who designed the machine:

untangling Free, Sugar and Constructionism (walter bender) Bill Kerr 2008

I notice also that Walter uses the word affordances a couple of times and I think that is just the right word to use, because affordances means the opportunity is there but not the inevitability eg. bad teaching can destroy the best intentions of those who designed the machine:

Archive 2008-06-01 Bill Kerr 2008

“The” is a be-all, end-all, up on a pedestal kind of marker, where “a/an” is “there’s more of these, and each has certain affordances and characteristics”.

What A list? « BuzzMachine 2005

That said, I think even Norman and other advocates of user-centered design begin with the affordances, which is analogous to the nuts and bolts in software design.

Lipsticking The Chicken 2006

For example, he defines 'affordances' as "the perceived and actual properties of the thing, primarily those fundamental properties that determine just how the thing could possibly be used."

PopMatters 2009

A basic idea from ergonomics is that physical and cognitive "affordances" can help people to think about, know, and use something more easily and to make fewer errors.

Shop Talk - Innovation, Marketing and Alliances 2008

They describe the technical constraints and affordances of the system and track developments in programming, gameplay, interface, and aesthetics.

Racing the Beam: The Atari Video Computer System - The Retroist 2010

Much work remains to be done to use their unique affordances to personalize and deepen learning while aligning with critical new educational standards.

Michael Levine: Gaming Education Reform: Put Down Your Pencils and Play Michael Levine 2011

Much work remains to be done to use their unique affordances to personalize and deepen learning while aligning with critical new educational standards.

Michael Levine: Gaming Education Reform: Put Down Your Pencils and Play Michael Levine 2011