4 ms·

Words are better than icons - as long as you speak the language.

CamperBob2 6y ago
Or if you're a verbal thinker rather than a visual thinker. I can learn enough of $LANGUAGE to operate a control panel in less time than I can puzzle out the average set of Ikea assembly instructions.
WalterBright 6y ago
You don't need to speak the language. Learning O-I-L is not any harder than learning that squiggle is an ancient biblical oil lamp. It's easier, in fact, because everyone has an English=>YourLanguage translator in their pocket, and who has an icon decoder? Is it really that hard to figure out what STOP on the international stop sign means? I know from experience traveling in foreign countries. Even in Japan. For another example, how long did it take you to figure out that that "hamburger" icon was really MENU? I'm using Chrome Browser. To the right of the address bar there's a star icon. Sorry, I have no idea what that means and have to hover over it - "Bookmark this tab". I have no idea why anyone would associate a star with bookmark. I have no idea how anyone would look up a star icon on google. But I know how to look up "bookmark". When I open up my Twitter page, there are 5 icons under my picture: 1. two triangles and a dot 2. GIF 3. three cantilevered beams 4. a happy face 5. a car battery with a clock attached Sorry, I don't know what any of these do. Hovering over them provides no information. (Maybe GIF means add picture, but my pictures are JPGs, not GIFs. What does a happy face do? Inject me with heroin?) I can click on them and find out - but really, what kind of argument is that for "icons are better!"? It isn't any better than randomly turning controls hoping to turn the damned defroster on so I can see, and hoping I don't hit the ejector seat button.
- DoingIsLearning 6y ago
  > Learning O-I-L is not any harder than learning that squiggle is an ancient biblical oil lamp I fully agree with your points on UI icons and flat hamburgers. It repeatedly violates discoverabilty. But to add to your point, most products will already have some form of regionalization. Software will typically have language specific strings, physical products will have instruction manuals and warranties in the local language. In practice the translation effort already happens anyway for non-anglo markets. So even the reservation you mention of learning a foreign language for non-english users is most of the times a non-issue.

Or if you're a verbal thinker rather than a visual thinker. I can learn enough of $LANGUAGE to operate a control panel in less time than I can puzzle out the average set of Ikea assembly instructions.

WalterBright 6y ago

You don't need to speak the language. Learning O-I-L is not any harder than learning that squiggle is an ancient biblical oil lamp. It's easier, in fact, because everyone has an English=>YourLanguage translator in their pocket, and who has an icon decoder? Is it really that hard to figure out what STOP on the international stop sign means? I know from experience traveling in foreign countries. Even in Japan. For another example, how long did it take you to figure out that that "hamburger" icon was really MENU? I'm using Chrome Browser. To the right of the address bar there's a star icon. Sorry, I have no idea what that means and have to hover over it - "Bookmark this tab". I have no idea why anyone would associate a star with bookmark. I have no idea how anyone would look up a star icon on google. But I know how to look up "bookmark". When I open up my Twitter page, there are 5 icons under my picture: 1. two triangles and a dot 2. GIF 3. three cantilevered beams 4. a happy face 5. a car battery with a clock attached Sorry, I don't know what any of these do. Hovering over them provides no information. (Maybe GIF means add picture, but my pictures are JPGs, not GIFs. What does a happy face do? Inject me with heroin?) I can click on them and find out - but really, what kind of argument is that for "icons are better!"? It isn't any better than randomly turning controls hoping to turn the damned defroster on so I can see, and hoping I don't hit the ejector seat button.

DoingIsLearning 6y ago
> Learning O-I-L is not any harder than learning that squiggle is an ancient biblical oil lamp I fully agree with your points on UI icons and flat hamburgers. It repeatedly violates discoverabilty. But to add to your point, most products will already have some form of regionalization. Software will typically have language specific strings, physical products will have instruction manuals and warranties in the local language. In practice the translation effort already happens anyway for non-anglo markets. So even the reservation you mention of learning a foreign language for non-english users is most of the times a non-issue.