Does Adding Visual Signifiers in Animated Transitions Improve the Discoverability of Hidden Interactions?

Smartphones support diverse inputs, however, the multitude of devices and platforms makes it challenging for people to discover when and where interactions are meaningful. Motivated by the effectiveness of visual signifiers in communicating interactivity, we explore the viability of integrating temporary visual signifiers in animated transitions between UI screens to promote the discoverability of swipe-revealed widgets. We implemented two transition types (Container Transform, Panels), and compared them to a baseline. We found that transitions with a standard duration did not impact the discovery of swipe-related widgets (N=33). We ran a follow-up study (N=22) with extremely slow 5000ms transitions to guarantee noticeability, but similarly found no impact on discovery of swipe-revealed widgets, diverging from previous findings for visual signifiers. This raises interesting questions about the perception and understanding of interaction signifiers, and indicates a disconnect between noticeability and discoverability, while highlighting difficulties with adapting established interface elements beyond their entrenched functionality.