6533b855fe1ef96bd12b1ac5

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Analyzing the Concept of Affordances in Information Systems

Arto LanamäkiDevinder ThapaKaren Stendal

subject

Knowledge managementbusiness.industryComputer science05 social sciencesContext (language use)02 engineering and technologyEpistemologyScholarshipAction (philosophy)020204 information systems0502 economics and business0202 electrical engineering electronic engineering information engineeringInformation systembusinessAffordanceSocial affordance050203 business & management

description

The affordance concept has penetrated the Information Systems (IS) scholarship as a lens for theorizing the relationship between technology and its users. However, what exactly is it that the researchers are trying to capture when they use this concept? For this essay, we carefully read IS literature to reveal underlying assumptions behind this lens and how it has been adopted. This article reveals three assumptions: 1) whether affordances are identified as intended prior use or emerging in action, 2) whether affordances are functional or non-functional, and 3) whether affordances are potential or actual. We dig into these assumptions and suggest alternatives for further enquiry.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2016-01-012016 49th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS)
https://doi.org/10.1109/hicss.2016.651