Applying Affordance Theory to Improve Design Practices for Physical, Mental, and Social Health Outcomes

Abstract As people interact with physical artifacts, the interaction can produce a wide range of social impacts on the user. Of all possible social impact outcomes, design processes have traditionally focused on health and safety. Within health and safety, most design methods and standards aim to mitigate the probability of physical harm while neglecting other aspects of health, such as mental and social well-being. We argue that expanding the focus of design to consider a more holistic view of health will require looking beyond performance-based standards. Specifically, we suggest that affordance theory and technological mediation could be used as strategies when designing for health, enabling designers to focus on the various conditions and mechanisms that solutions may or may not enable. Although the idea of affordances is not new, their application to design remains limited. Adoption of affordance theory in design processes may be limited by criticisms that affordances are too abstract and ambiguous. Further, most health-related standards reflect generalized best practices that do not account for differences in health needs across different individuals and populations. We argue that affordance theory may enable new approaches for designers to directly consider the co-production of physical, mental, and social health in design processes.