Semiotics, the study of signs and meaning, is relevant to projects where clients seek to interpret and make sense of constructed objects. Semiotics helps us understand how information is communicated and by what specific signs and signals, because meaning is embedded into all cultural interaction and reflected in all touchpoints.
At Kelton, semiotic analysis is conducted in conjunction with the rest of the project and the insights fed in throughout. Signs are decoded almost instinctively by users and are vital for streamlining functionality.
Kelton’s online qualitative research can be used to help you:
- Help users create mental models of usership so they know what to do with a product or experience. In other words, create signals that ‘script’ the user into certain modes of behaviour known as ‘affordances’ (turning a top rather than squeezing, for example), and eliminate incorrect ways of operation – known as ‘constraints’
- Provide a valuable framing perspective, giving you a more nuanced understanding of individual human reactions within cultural constraints
- Gain deep cross-cultural insights with a multi-faceted perspective
- Investigate interactions between people and products and use the insights resulting from that investigation to help enhance positioning, messaging, write a better creative brief, and provide design drivers for development of future offerings