On affordance and false affordance.
In my head I have a model of what a soap dispenser and a hand dryer look like visually. This is all supported by my previous experience with these devices. Based on this model, it is usually very easy for me to recognize which device does what.
In most bathrooms, the dispenser is close to the sink and is smaller than a hand dryer.
As Don Norman writes in his book "The Design of Everyday Things", affordance is the relationship between an object and a person. “An affordance is the relationship between the properties of an object and the capabilities of the agent that determine just how the object could possibly be used.”
Recognizing what a given item is used for is also made easier by the context of where I am and the location of a given device.
I came across a device in a public bathroom, its appearance and mounting location suggested a different purpose. When I want to wash my hands, I see a cylindrical device above the sink. I thought that when I put my hands down, foam would automatically flow out. But instead, warm air flew out. Standing at the sink, I couldn't see the actual soap dispenser because it was behind me on my left side. At first, I also did not see that the device, which I mistakenly perceived as a dispenser, was connected to an electrical socket and soap dispensers are usually not powered by anything or are battery-powered.
The error in recognizing the purpose of the device was caused by the unusual appearance of the hand dryer. The device in this case "sends" an erroneous message to me, not being what it appears to be - a false affordance.
Solutions
- Applying a signifier. Graphic information on the hand dryer, e.g. a large sticker with an icon suggesting that it is a hand dryer. Graphic information that it is soap on a soap dispenser.
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Rearranging the devices so that the soap dispenser is in place of the dryer. However, the dryer is slightly away from the sink on the left side - out of the line of sight when washing hands.
I wonder how many people in this place accidentally turn on the hand dryer to use the soap.