기표

Donald Norman이 기존의 “perceived affordance” 대신 쓰자고 제안한 용어. See Signifiers, not affordances.

기호학에서 전용:

The term signifier has had a long and illustrious career in the exotic field of semiotics, the study of signs and symbols. But just as I appropriated affordance to use in design in a manner somewhat different than its inventor had intended, I use signifier in a somewhat different way than it is used in semiotics. For me, the term signifier refers to any mark or sound, any perceivable indicator that communicates appropriate behavior to a person. —The design of everyday things: Revised and Expanded Edition