The Affordance Canvas results from the effort to enrich design thinking using Interweaving.
How:
- After the team has formulated a problem point-of-view and found a solution, the team turns around and explores the affordance of the solution. Here affordance is all the possibilities that a solution enables or facilitates.
- This is a creative exercise that encourages out-of-the-box thinking. What can be done more than the intended functionality of the solution?
- Once the new possibilities have been uncovered, the problem point-of-view should be revisited. Is the chosen problem the right problem framing, or are there more profitable problems to address that make the most of the solution? Maybe there are reasons to reframe the problem to arrive at an even better position for the future.
An example of an affordance is the many possibilities made available by AI or deep learning algorithms. Here, new ways of working can be found to find a solution. Maybe even old solutions from the historical garbage can be revitalised for today's problems.
1 In which situation is the canvas relevant?
2 What are the features and functions of the solution?
3 What are the affordances that create gains?
4 What are the affordances that relieve pains?