“How do the affordances of Instagram affect the way photos and videos are authored, published and distributed in the network?”
How many time did you dress up all classy and confident but then fail to open a door in public and feel like a completely idiot? Did you blame yourself for that embarrassment or you blame the design? If you blame yourself then it’s time to read the bookThe Design Of Everyday Things about product design from the view of product users.
To be honest, I haven’t encountered the term “affordances” before and surely haven’t thought much about it in design. An affordance is understood simply as how an object may be used. After the first time reading The Design Of Everyday Things (Norman, 1998, 9), I gained a deeper understanding over affordances in design. In the reading, Norman uses to term to describe the perform functions of a design. For example, an affordance of a key is to be able to open the door. I think its really interesting to consider it and it can change the entire design industry. But the second time round is the one that blow me away. I truly get the important of affordances, not only in design but also in life. “Affordances” exists in everyday things, just like Norman discovered. Affordances exists in communication, in relationship, in the way life works.
Going back to the question, I have spent times to think about how Instagram’s four affordances which are upgraded constantly to helps it stay relevant. It has a very simple design: on the bottom left there is the “feed”, which features photos from people you follow and also advertising sometimes. Next to that button is the “search” icon so you can explore anyone or any hashtag you want. In the center, you can easily spot the “add” icon which allows users to either upload or take a photo or video easily. Finally in the left is the “notifications” button, which shows you all the likes and comments for your account. Recently, Instagram designed a new feature called “story”. That allows users to upload short videos which will appear in the top line of the feed and disappear after 24 hours.
In this case, affordances are Instagram’s properties that give users a clue about how this social media channel can be used.
The affordances in Instagram is really clear and upgraded constantly but not too quickly to bother its audiences. Thats probably one of many reasons explain for Instagram’s success. Instagram isn’t just a place to share memories anymore, it has grown into a community.
References
- Norman, D. (2013). The Design of Everyday Things. New York: Basic Books.