Affordances and IT Design: A Typology for Social Media and Platform Affordances

Affordance is a key term for understanding digital products' interface and design, implying what a digital platform allows its users to do. Due to lack of previous studies, the present study aims to provide a typology for affordances. Three theories of Gibson's relational affordances; Norman's Perceived affordances; and Gaver's Technology affordances are used as the framework. As a conceptual research, this study adopted typology approach. Typology researches contribute through distinguishing and categorizing of extant knowledge about a phenomenon, construct, or theory. First, a bibliometric analysis of literature in the subject of affordances was conducted and then, the identified affordances were classified in categories. Cognitive, physical, sensory, functional, explicit, graphic, language, hidden, pattern, metaphorical, false, negative and animated affordances are the major types that are identified in this research.