God bless academics, that can make the simplest and most beautiful of things into an adventure into the dictionary.
Did you know that door knobs are also ‘cognitive affordances’?

I’m going to have to use some direct quotes here, as the language is impossible to paraphrase:

“Physical and cognitive affordances help users perform physical and cognitive actions, respectively.”
The visual design of both kinds [of door handles – knob and lever] conveys a cognitive affordance helping users think or know about usage through the implied message their appearance gives to users: ‘This is what you use to open the door’.

Again, we agree with Norman (1999) in noting that the message is implicit and there is nothing intrinsic in the appearance of a doorknob that necessarily conveys this information. The doorknob is an easily recognized cultural convention because most people understand it as a symbol. On another planet, it could be perceived as mysterious and confusing.
That is why a cognitive affordance is a perceived affordance. In this context, a doorknob is an excellent cognitive affordance because almost all users do share the same cultural convention.

Of course, we realise that there are many types of cognitive affordances surrounding us every second … not only door knobs. But it is such a gorgeous way of describing the humble handle, and it is nice to think of knobs as a cognitive affordance in a class of their own!

Next time you open your door, or when you are browsing through the products section of the site … just think about the nobility of these seemingly innocuous items, the door knobs. Not a mere knob, and definitely not as ‘dumb as a door knob’ – they are cognitive affordances!!!

Font: The Concept of Affordance in Usability in Usability Methods & Tools
Photo credits: untitled by Guillermo Salinas

          

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