Blog Post
PrzemysławHubis
6 years agoCommunity Member
Base on what Dan Norman wrote in his book (The Design of Everyday Things) we have two terms that describe objects.
Affordances define what actions are possible (It is a relation between object and a person (user) so for example a chair affords (“is for”) support and, therefore, affords sitting.
On the other hand signifiers specify how people discover those possibilities: signifiers are signs, perceptible signals of what can be done (chair's flat surface and a back support). Therefore signifiers are far more importance to designers than are affordances.
Hope that adds a little bit of a background to the article.
Affordances define what actions are possible (It is a relation between object and a person (user) so for example a chair affords (“is for”) support and, therefore, affords sitting.
On the other hand signifiers specify how people discover those possibilities: signifiers are signs, perceptible signals of what can be done (chair's flat surface and a back support). Therefore signifiers are far more importance to designers than are affordances.
Hope that adds a little bit of a background to the article.
- NicoleLegault16 years agoCommunity MemberThanks for your comments Przemysław! :)
- KatiCountryman6 years agoCommunity MemberI am reading this book right now! It was the first thing I thought of as I opened this article … "Hey wait, there are signifiers too!" :) Great read in this article and highly recommend The Design of Everyday Things, too.