✍️ Essay
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Free
Intermediate
Norman's own short essay on the idea that decides whether a control looks usable: affordances and signifiers. It is the crisp, free version of why a button should look pressable and a label should say what it does. Straight from the source, and it upgrades how you talk about your own screens.
Affordances and Design
From Don Norman (jnd.org) by Don Norman ~10 min read
- Affordances are what an element lets you do; signifiers are the cues that reveal it.
- Signifiers matter more to designers, because they are what people actually perceive.
- Make the possible actions visible, and the screen stops needing explanation.
