More specifically, it’s the Affordance/Signifier relationship
In my struggle to resolve a user interface design problem, I recently returned to the bible of user experience for a little clarity: The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman.
I discovered that I was guilty of confusing affordance and signifier as Norman predicted. But when I put the terms in the context of designing a mobile interface, the distinction became clear and meaningful.
What is an affordance?
An affordance is what an object can do. Yet what an object can do is only revealed by a user. Therefore an affordance is what an object can do based on a user interaction. An affordance can be obvious or hidden.
Example:
A chair reveals its affordance by design, its shape mirrors the body and communicates its intent: to be sat on.
However, a chair has an additional affordance not communicated by its design. A chair can be used to change a lightbulb or reach a book, a hidden affordance.
Clearly an object’s affordance is not determined solely by design but by the way a user interacts with it. An object’s affordance is determined by user interaction.
What is a signifier?
