Understanding Affordances and Signifiers in UX Design

The concepts of affordances and signifiers are crucial in user experience (UX) design, particularly in interaction and user interface (UI) design. These terms describe how objects in a digital or physical environment are perceived and used by users. This article delves into the differences between affordances and signifiers and their significance in creating user-friendly designs.

What are Affordances?

Definition: Affordances refer to the properties of an object that suggest how it can be used. They are the actionable possibilities that an object provides to a user based on its design. Essentially, affordances describe what a user can do with a given object.

Example: A button on a website that looks raised suggests that it can be pressed. A chair affords sitting because of its shape and structure.

What are Signifiers?

Definition: Signifiers are indicators or cues that communicate to users how an object should be used. They help users understand the affordances of an object, especially when the affordances are not immediately obvious. Signifiers are typically external cues that guide users in interpreting the affordances.

Example: An arrow on a button indicating it can be clicked or a label saying “Sign In” next to a button.

Key Differences Between Affordances and Signifiers

Nature

Affordances are inherent in the object’s design and functionality. Signifiers are external cues that guide users in interpreting the affordances.

Purpose

Affordances suggest what actions are possible. Signifiers clarify how to perform those actions.

User Interaction

Users may recognize affordances based on their experiences and intuition. Users rely on signifiers to understand how to interact with an object, especially in unfamiliar contexts.

The Impact of Affordances and Signifiers on User Experience

Affordances and signifiers play a crucial role in enhancing the usability of digital and physical objects. Effective design often involves creating clear signifiers to enhance the usability of the affordances present in an object.

Imagine seeing a TV remote: a black long cuboidal one with some buttons on it. How will you hold it in your hand? Will the long edge be parallel to your fingers or perpendicular to it? These considerations are based on the affordances of the remote. Its shape and form guide users on how to interact with it.

Now imagine the same TV remote with buttons, but no colour, or letters, or numbers. Can you use it effectively? The letters, colours, and numbers on the buttons are signifiers, helping users understand the various functions of the remote.

The Relation Between Affordances and Signifiers

Affordances show the obvious possibilities of action for a product. They can be perceivable or can remain hidden depending on how well a product is designed. Signifiers add to the existing affordance of a product. They are instructional and visible like the red power sign on a remote control or a door plate with push or pull written on it.

Sometimes an affordance can also act as its own signifier. These are known as perceived affordances, such as a squeeze top for liquid soap. It does not require a prompt to tell us to push the top to use it. Thus the squeeze affordance is its own signifier and is often used in other products and mechanisms.

A tap or faucet's affordance is that it can run water. But how often have we gotten confused as to which side to turn it for hot or cold? This is where signifiers become more important than affordances, as they help communicate the design clearly. So a tap or faucet with red and blue dots or H and C written can signify which way to turn the tap for hot or cold water. In this case, the colour signifiers provide more visibility compared to the letters as they pop out and are easy to associate with and are universally recognized.

Consider a sensor tap deemed the more hygienic and eco-friendly brother of the traditional tap. How often have we seen or experienced difficulty in using it? A newbie user almost always faces issues while using it for the first time. Even experienced users still struggle to decipher the right angle to activate the sensor. Thus, the product here has no recognizable signifier for its affordance. The absence of clear signifiers can indeed cause dysfunction.

Another common issue is the choice between affordance and aesthetic in product design. Designers often struggle to understand the concept of affordance and signifiers. They fall victim to the confusing nature of these two concepts as predicted by Don Norman. Affordance is the inherent function of an object, and signifier is the clue or sign that helps carry out the intended use of that function.

Signifiers in Cultural Context

Affordances can be universal as they are based on human instincts, needs, wants, or experiences. On the other hand, signifiers should be recognizable by people from diverse cultural backgrounds. However, the recognisability of signifiers depends on social, cultural, and contextual differences. For example, Ramesh (who studied in the US) and Suresh (who remained in India) both encountered a confusing situation at a traffic light. Ramesh perceived the yellow light as an indication to stop and wait for it to turn green. Suresh, on the other hand, interpreted it as an opportunity to accelerate and cross before the light turned red.

Note that a keyboard, which has a universally common affordance to tap, may have different signifiers based on the language. The signifiers for Hindi or a Hanja keyboard will not follow the QWERTY pattern of an English keyboard. Therefore, designers should consider these factors to ensure that signifiers are universally understood but actions may differ based on cultural and contextual factors.

Signifiers allow designers to unify all the affordances of a product into a cohesive and user-friendly experience. Thus, a design should focus on signifiers to enhance the perceivability of the product's affordances. Communication is key to good product design, and the key to clear communication is a signifier that facilitates the understanding of affordance. Without clear signifiers, users may struggle to use a product effectively, leading to frustration and a poor user experience.