Glossary » affordance
affordance
a situation where an object’s sensory characteristics intuitively imply its functionality and use.
A button, by being slightly raised above an otherwise flat surface, suggests the idea of pushing it. A lever, by being an appropriate size for grasping, suggests pulling it. A blinking red light and buzzer suggests a problem and demands attention. A chair, by its size, its curvature, its balance, and its position, suggests sitting on it.
An affordance is a desirable property of a user interface – software which naturally leads people to take the correct steps to accomplish their goals.
The common psychological term for this is stimulus-response compatibility.
