The term affordance describes an object's utilitarian function or actionable possibilities. Product designers have taken great interest in the concept of affordances because of the bridge they provide relating to design, the interpretation of design and, ultimately, functionality in the hands of consumers. These concepts have been widely studied and applied in the field of psychology but have had limited formal application to packaging design and evaluation. We believe that the concepts related to affordances will reveal novel opportunities for packaging innovation. To catalyse this, presented work had the following objectives: (a) to propose a method by which packaging designers can purposefully consider affordances during the design process; (b) to explain this method in the context of a packaging-related case study; and (c) to measure the effect on package usability when an affordance-based design approach is employed. INTRODUCTIONFrom purchasing to disposal, human-package interactions are comprised of several steps that need to be accomplished in order to achieve varied goals. Optimal package designs inspire an immediate understanding of use, opening (where and how), proper and accurate dispensing, reclosure and disposal. This is particularly important for novel or unfamiliar packaging.1 By definition, semantic issues, how users understand the meanings of a package, precede ergonomic issues, how users operate it. 2 de la Fuente and Bix proposed a conceptual model to organize and analyse the complexities of human-package interactions. This model incorporates the four classical components of usability (i.e. user, pack, context and task) and recognizes the need to engage three user systems: the perceptual system, the cognitive system and the motor system. Our review of the literature regarding packaging usability suggests a lack of systematic research investigating perception and cognition as it relates to packaging use.3 Further, it revealed that research is lacking in many of the distinct tasks performed with packages, with the vast majority concentrating on opening tasks, particularly emphasizing jars and bottles, and the physical actions (motor system) required to successfully achieve such tasks.Aspects of user's perception and understanding of products have been addressed from a variety of fields such as psychology and product design. In the late seventies, the perceptual psychologist James Gibson revolutionized the field of visual perception by proposing that objects in the environment have functional meaning to an observer. Gibson invented the word affordance to describe any object's utilitarian function, defining affordances as relationships between the 'world and actors' (i.e. person or animal). Under Gibson's archetype affordances are all the 'action possibilities' latent in the environment independent of an individual's ability to recognize them. 4,5 Within this frame, the design features of an item, such as the pull tab of a can, have the potential to catalyse actions in the user (e.g. can opening)...
A choice-based conjoint study was conducted sampling 400 individuals to determine their preference for
The term affordance describes an object's utilitarian function or actionable possibilities. Product designers have taken great interest in the concept of affordances because of the bridge they provide relating to design, the interpretation of design and, ultimately, functionality in the hands of consumers. These concepts have been widely studied and applied in the field of psychology but have had limited formal application to packaging design and evaluation. We believe that the concepts related to affordances will reveal novel opportunities for packaging innovation. To catalyse this, presented work had the following objectives: (a) to propose a method by which packaging designers can purposefully consider affordances during the design process; (b) to explain this method in the context of a packaging-related case study; and (c) to measure the effect on package usability when an affordance-based design approach is employed.
This study challenged the concept of a single best package design for food products. Research found that typography played a crucial role in the consumer's perception of the quality and the value of a product. It was also found that, based on the consumer's purchasing intention, the use of type or graphics on a package could have either a positive or a negative affect on consumer perception of product value and quality. In addition, this study pointed out that these variables require careful testing in the marketplace, which can only be achieved in package designs that can be economically tested with a variety of audiences.
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