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The Importance of Integrating Perceived Affordances and Hazard Perception in Package Design
Color is often used to communicate the level of hazard. The present study sought to determine the effect of packages’ color on hazard-related perceptions in a Virtual Environment. There were two conditions: achromatic (grayscale) and chromatic (red, yellow, blue, green). A sample of 40 design students rated their hazard-related perceptions (e.g., level of hazardousness and awareness of consequences) of eight 3D packages, which differed in contents’ hazardousness and familiarity, on hazard related perceptions. The results indicated that color does affect hazard-related perceptions. Compared to the achromatic versions, red and yellow produced different effects, when applied to hazardous packages which are both familiar and unfamiliar. Red increased hazard perception but did not affect awareness of consequences, and yellow did not affect the first, but decreased the latter. Blue decreased both dimensions, whereas green did not affect the first but decreased the latter. The results draw attention to the importance of color and familiarity on hazard-related perceptions.
Consumers' reactions to rectangles have implications for package and product design. In two lab studies and an analysis of field data, the authors find that the ratio of the sides of a rectangular product or package can influence purchase intentions and preferences and is related to marketplace demand. In more exploratory inquiries, the authors also find that the impact of this ratio on consumers depends on the relative seriousness of the context in which the product is used. Furthermore, ratio can also affect product perceptions, and consumers appear to prefer a range of contiguous ratios for different contexts rather than a particular ratio.
This study investigated consumer complaints related to food packaging design and the occurrence of injuries associated with the opening of various types of containers. Each study participant (245) took a 15 min fact-to-face interview and was asked attitudinal questions about 10 different categories of packaging including cans, glass and plastic bottles and jars, and paper-based composite packages. The subjects were also asked whether they had been injured while opening these packaging types. The survey showed that cans which needed a tool for opening were most difficult to enter. In some cases the tool was the source of injury. The respondents were also most concerned about deformation, spillage and product wastage associated with these types of containers. This included brick-type composite packages without a peelable seal over the pour spout. A large percentage of the respondents felt that more information was needed on the various methods of opening packages in general. Glass bottles and jars were most likely to be used for storage of products after they were emptied of their original contents. The results of this study could be used by manufacturers to assist them in the design and development of packaging with a lower potential to cause accidents and injuries. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
This research examined people's accuracy in judging the risk of common consumer products. In two experiments, participants estimated the frequency of product-related injuries at a quick pace, slow pace, and following lengthy analysis of accident scenarios. Participants' estimates of injury were then compared to objective injury rates compiled by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. The results showed that participants were able to assess relative levels of risk quickly and accurately, but additional time and analysis had no effect on estimation accuracy. Perceived injury severity was strongly related to both participant's risk estimates and their precautionary intent ratings, but no relationship was found between precautionary intent and the objective risk data. The practical importance of precautionary intent over risk perception is discussed. Implications for product warnings and safety education programs are described.
Ecological approaches to psychology suggest succinct accounts ofeasily-used artifacts. Affordances are properties of the world that are compatible with and relevant for people's interactions. When affordances are perceptible, they offer a direct link between perception and action; hidden and false affordances lead to mistakes. Complex actions can be understood in terms of groups of affordances that are sequential in time or nested in space, and in terms of the abilities of different media to reveal them. I illustrate this discussion with several examples of interface techniques, and suggest that the concept of affordances can provide a useful tool for user-centered analyses of technologies.
The concept of affordance is popular in the HCIcommunity but not well understood. Donald Normanappropriated the concept of affordances from James J.Gibson for the design of common objects and bothimplicitly and explicitly adjusted the meaning given byGibson. There was, however, ambiguity in Norman'soriginal definition and use of affordances which he hassubsequently made efforts to clarify. His definitiongerminated quickly and through a review of the HCIliterature we show that this...
This is a conference paper delivered at the Farapack Briefing 2005 (Faraday Packaging Partnership) Product packaging offers manufacturers tremendous opportunities to satisfy the needs of the various stakeholders in the products’ lifecycle. It can obviously protect during distribution, advertise the contents of the pack, ensure sterility and prevent tampering and inform the end user how to make use of the contents and dispose of or recycle the packaging itself. Package characteristics can also help shape buyers’ impressions at the time of purchase and during use. In recent years buyers have shown a willingness to pay more for improved packaging, but there are limits. (Dibb & Simpkin et al, 1997) Unfortunately research shows that there is also a darker side to packaging and that there are a large number of injuries either caused by, or directly associated with, packaging. It is a socially unacceptable fact that some 49,000 UK consumers need hospital treatment from injuries through opening grocery packaging each year.
Product safety is affected by product design and by the knowledge of the user, either through the user's own background or through instructions and warnings presented with the product. Given adequate knowledge, warnings can serve primarily to remind individuals of the hazards and precautions that can be taken. This study examined people in the USA (represented by two diverse samples) to evaluate their knowledge about the hazards associated with common household products and situations using both multiple choice and open-ended surveys. The results indicated that the respondents were aware of a substantial number of hazards, but their knowledge often did not extend to the specific circumstances that could produce personal injury and property damage. Further, comparisons of cued and non-cued responses suggested some hazards are not well recognized without the cue. The results indicate warnings are needed both as reminders and to provide safety information.
Health warnings on cigarette packages are among the most common means of communicating the health risks of smoking. However, few studies have evaluated the impact of package warnings on consumer knowledge about tobacco risks.
The aim of the current study was to use nationally representative samples of adult smokers from the United States (USA), the United Kingdom (UK), Canada (CAN), and Australia (AUS) from the International Tobacco Control Four Country Survey (ITC-4) to examine variations in smokers' knowledge about tobacco risks and the impact of package warnings.
A telephone survey was conducted with 9058 adult smokers from the following countries: USA (n = 2138), UK (n = 2401), CAN (n = 2214) and AUS (n = 2305). Respondents were asked to state whether they believed smoking caused heart disease, stroke, impotence, lung cancer in smokers, and lung cancer in non-smokers. Respondents were also asked whether the following chemicals are found in cigarette smoke: cyanide, arsenic and carbon monoxide.
Smokers in the four countries exhibited significant gaps in their knowledge of the risks of smoking. Smokers who noticed the warnings were significantly more likely to endorse health risks, including lung cancer and heart disease. In each instance where labelling policies differed between countries, smokers living in countries with government mandated warnings reported greater health knowledge. For example, in Canada, where package warnings include information about the risks of impotence, smokers were 2.68 (2.41-2.97) times more likely to agree that smoking causes impotence compared to smokers from the other three countries.
Smokers are not fully informed about the risks of smoking. Warnings that are graphic, larger, and more comprehensive in content are more effective in communicating the health risks of smoking.
The physical form or design of a product is an unquestioned determinant of its marketplace success. A good design attracts consumers to a product, communicates to them, and adds value to the product by increasing the quality of the usage experiences associated with it. Nevertheless, the topic of product design is rarely, if ever, encountered in marketing journals. To bring needed attention to the subject of product design and enable researchers to better investigate design issues, the author introduces a conceptual model and several propositions that describe how the form of a product relates to consumers’ psychological and behavioral responses. After presenting this model, the author describes numerous strategic implications and research directions.
Four experiments were carried out to examine the extent that the container shape and color of a consumer product package influence hazard perceptions of that product. The experiments further examined the extent that consumer product hazard perception influenced consumer precautionary intent. The first experiment demonstrated that participants could design product packages signaling the identity and potential hazard level of the contents. Experiments 2 and 3 validated the results of Experiment 1. Experiment 3 further introduced the concept of precautionary intent for those products perceived as being more hazardous. Experiment 4 examined whether these stated intentions would be acted upon when participants were asked to interact with a product; it was found that participants were more likely to engage in precautionary behaviors than had been indicated in Experiment 3.
This paper aims to clarify the concept and elucidate the role of affordances in the interaction design for physical products by making a parallel comparison to product semantics. This study argues that the core of affordance concept in design lies not in expressing the design intent, but constructing the actions required in the user–product interaction. A framework consisting of three design dimensions: affordance, perceptual information, and symbol, is suggested to deal with different aspects in physical interaction design, in particular, the motor, perceptual, and cognitive factors with an illustrative example. In conclusion, implications for interaction design and future research are suggested.
Four experiments are reported on how design engineering students can express the taste of a dessert in its packaging and how people experience this expression. Three hypotheses are tested: 1) are designers able to express the taste of a dessert in their designs; 2) are people able to match these designs and desserts; and 3) does this matching occur on the basis of the same information. Experiments 1–3 show that people are able to match desserts and packaging designs on the basis of all the information available (Experiment 1), of mainly form information (Experiment 2) and of mainly colour information (Experiment 3). Experiment 4 provides evidence that designers and nondesigners alike make these matches on the same basis. Designers seem to articulate the perception of packagings and tastes more than nondesigners do. Results are discussed against the background of the Gibsonian concepts of meaning as affordances and of learning as perceptual differentiation.
For many years the standard engineering design approach has been to design for the most common size or ability and hence ensuring that your product is applicable to the broadest proportion of society. Recently, however, this approach has been seen to be flawed, particularly with regards to consumer packaging (although there many examples in other industries, such as transport). This paper outlines a new approach to packaging design that has been termed ‘inclusive’ design. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The concept of affordance is relatively easy to define, but has proved to be remarkably difficult to engineer. This paradox has sparked numerous debates as to its true nature. The discussion presented here begins with a review of the use of the term from which emerges evidence for a two-fold classification—simple affordance and complex affordance. Simple affordance corresponds to Gibson’s original formulation, while complex affordances embody such things as history and practice. In trying to account for complex affordance, two contrasting, but complementary philosophical treatments are considered. The first of these is Ilyenkov’s account of significances which he claims are ‘ideal’ phenomena. Ideal phenomena occupy are objective characteristics of things and are the product of human purposive activity. This makes them objective, but not independent (of any particular mind or perception) hence their similarity to affordances.
The second perspective is Heidegger’s phenomenological treatment of ‘familiarity’ and ‘equipment’. As will be seen, Heidegger has argued that familiarity underpins our ability to cope in the world. A world, in turn, which itself comprises the totality of equipment. We cope by making use of equipment. Despite the different philosophical traditions both Ilyenkov and Heidegger have independently concluded that a thing is identified by its use and that use, in turn, is revealed by way of its affordances/significances. Finally, both authors—Heidegger directly and Ilyenkov indirectly—equate context and use, leading to the conclusion that affordance and context are one and the same.
This paper reports a questionnaire survey of shoppers at four supermarket stores in the UK. Regression analyses were used to determine factors in consumer complaints with the packaging of food and drink products. Neuroticism and treatment in hospital for an accident involving packaging in the last 3 years were significant associates. Analyses on who was most likely to suffer accidents or injuries while opening food and drink packaging indicated that handedness (that is, being left handed made accidents more likely) and scoring low on a measure of personal control during decision-making were significant associates. Analyses on who suffered the most serious accidents and injuries whilst opening food and drink packaging revealed that the decision-making style of social resistance (that is, the extent to which you resist asking for help from others) was related to susceptibility to the most severe accidents. These findings imply that individual factors (including both personal characteristics and personality traits) should be taken into account when considering the openability of packaging. The results of this study indicate that manufacturers should ensure that novel packaging closures have been tested on left handers in order to discover any unique difficulties for this sub-group, that packaging opening tools specifically for left-handed people should be made available and that manufacturers of packaging should always look at a 'worst case scenario' for their packaging closures as it is evident that some people will continue to struggle with difficult packaging until either they open it or they have injured themselves.
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