cognitive tactility is a term we would like to introduce that articulates a property of artefacts which we were finding difficulty isolating and expressing.
this concept relates chiefly to the field of human-based product design and specifically to two principles already in use here; affordance and semantics.
affordance describes purely the functions which an artefact offers to the user, regardess of whether the user percieves that use.
semantics, in part, is the study of how function is communicated to the user by visual devices which evoke references.
cognitive tactility describes the degree of parity or disparity between the user's perceptions of a product's function and the actual functions it affords.
over the coming twelve months, we will be investigating the application and manipulation of this principle in product design.
thanks to Donald Norman, Jakob Nielson , Hsiao-chen You, Kuohsiang Chen, www.dictionary.com and Merriam-Webster Online for reference material used in initial research.