In this book, Davis argues that traditional formulations of affordances—originating in ecological psychology and later adopted in design and technology studies—need conceptual refinement to account for variation across users and contexts. She proposes the mechanisms and conditions framework: mechanisms (such as request, demand, encourage, discourage, refuse, allow) describe how artifacts push or pull social action, and conditions (such as perception, dexterity, cultural and institutional legitimacy) explain for whom and under what circumstances those mechanisms operate. This framework makes visible the power relations and politics embedded in everyday technologies and provides tools for critical analysis, design critique, and method development. Davis situates this work within a broader critical sociotechnical approach that treats technology as materialized action shaped by human values and social structures.
From MIT Press