Whatever Happened to UI Affordances?
I am grumpy. As my very clever wife summarised, I hate when designers prioritise their æsthetic preferences over my usability needs.
I tried sharing a website using Google Chrome for Android. I hit the share button, and a panel popped-up from the bottom of the screen.
Hmmm. It didn't have the share destination that I wanted. It was early in the morning - when I'm not at my cognitive best - and I was stumped. There is nothing on this screen - other than the icons - to tell me how I can interact with it. There's no scrollbar, no handle, no "more" icon, nothing.
when you push a pull door and the person behind says "you need to pull" aye cheers lad sure next plan was to start lifting from the bottom
Even if you don't speak the language written on the doors, the physical nature of the handles tells you what you can do with them. A flat panel can only be pushed. The protruding handle is designed to be pulled. This design feature is known as an "affordance".
If you're involved in design, at any level, I urge you to read the classic book "Design of Everyday Things". This is what it has to say on the subject:
