UX Design
Signifier
A signifier is a visible cue that tells people where and how to act — an arrow, a label, an underline on a link.
Why it matters
Affordances are possibilities; signifiers are the signals that reveal them. Without clear signifiers, even a well-designed control can go unnoticed.
In depth
Don Norman introduced the distinction to clarify a common confusion: an affordance is the relationship that makes an action possible, while a signifier is the perceivable indicator of that action. Good design rarely relies on hidden affordances — it adds signifiers so the right action is obvious.
Real-world example
The underline and blue color of a hyperlink signify that the text is clickable, even though nothing about the words themselves makes them interactive.
Read our full guide for details.
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