Industrial Design Vocabulary

noun A toothed wheel or bar, used to transmit motion or to engage with another toothed part.

• The engineer carefully examined each cog in the machine to ensure smooth operation.
• Hey, can you help me fix this cog in the gear system?
• I heard he's a real cog in the corporate machine, always playing politics.
• Each cog in the team plays a vital role in achieving our goals.

noun a quality or feature of an object that allows an individual to perform a specific action or task

• The design of the user interface takes into consideration the affordance of each element.
• Make sure the buttons have clear affordance so users know they are clickable.
• The affordance of the website is so bad, I couldn't figure out how to navigate it.
• The affordance of the situation allowed for a smooth transition to the next phase of the project.