5 ms·

Icons are used for a very good reason; us humans have a remarkable visual memory. Also we can distinguish icons by appearance faster than by words. Also words a

Icons are used for a very good reason; us humans have a remarkable visual memory. Also we can distinguish icons by appearance faster than by words. Also words are language specific, icons... it's more complex... I can't provide evidence of this ATM but I did do a degree in a related subject. (I'm ignoring significant visual impairment here)

ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
I once designed an app with a lovely iconic interface. The customers hated it. The next release had a lot more text. For one thing, icons tend not to translate well. We're best off using ISO icons[0], but designers hate them, and always insist on reinventing the wheel. [0] https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#home https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#home
- lelandfe 4y ago
  > We're best off using ISO icons Hm, first time seeing this and not getting any good results. Here are the results for "save" https://i.imgur.com/UC4H3jE.png https://i.imgur.com/UC4H3jE.png. Are you sure any of these are meant for a technical context?
  - 411111111111111 4y ago
    The first one is "to indicate the entered data is saved" and it's been registered since 2004. I think it's more in the context of forms and less about saving a modified file. Never seen it before either.
  - samatman 4y ago
    If you enter "data" instead, you'll get the full context of the only one of those four which is applicable. I could quibble with some details of how these icons are designed, but I like that read and write point in the same directions as the carets in Unix redirects. That leaves up for "make data leave this device and go elsewhere", with down for "make a local copy of this data", aka upload and download. I must confess, however, if I saw the ISO icons in the wild, I wouldn't understand them. This is while already being aware of their existence.
  - ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
    Yeah, their browser sucks. I have a few collections that I downloaded, that have software-relevant ones.
  - guenthert 4y ago
    icon #6177 was bewildering. Apparently it is for "use on equipment" in the "eltrotechnical" domain. Without too much of a stretch of imagination, I can see a graph on an oscilloscope there, but why for 'save' and not for 'print' or selecting the time domain in a multi-function device?
- zasdffaa 4y ago
  > The customers hated it. Sigh. You screwed up. You gave the users what you wanted to give, not what they wanted. You must always test & iterate. > The next release had a lot more text. Yes, I was too general - different interface needs must get different interfaces. Sometimes icons aren't appropriate, sometimes icons + text is better, sometimes you have to get creative. > For one thing, icons tend not to translate well I said that. > We're best off using ISO icons[0], but designers hate them, and always insist on reinventing the wheel. That's a flaw in the designers, not the icons then. Are you blaming the icons for that failure? Edit: those icons don't seem to have anything to do with standard computer desktop UIs AFAICS, am I missing somethign?
  - ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
    I don't understand the hostility. I simply told a story about one of the many "bad judgment" stories that I have encountered, and the lessons learned, therein. I wasn't asking for judgment.
    - zasdffaa 4y ago
      Was intended as blunt, not hostile (how does it come across hostile?). WRT 'giving the users what you want not what they want', that's a classic mistake I've made several times and finally learnt from. Hopefully you can get there faster than I did.
      - ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
        I did, many years ago. The story is from about 1993.
hulitu 4y ago
> Icons are used for a very good reason; us humans have a remarkable visual memory. That's why since some 10 years they change it regularly.

ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago

I once designed an app with a lovely iconic interface. The customers hated it. The next release had a lot more text. For one thing, icons tend not to translate well. We're best off using ISO icons[0], but designers hate them, and always insist on reinventing the wheel. [0] https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#home https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#home

lelandfe 4y ago
> We're best off using ISO icons Hm, first time seeing this and not getting any good results. Here are the results for "save" https://i.imgur.com/UC4H3jE.png https://i.imgur.com/UC4H3jE.png. Are you sure any of these are meant for a technical context?
- 411111111111111 4y ago
  The first one is "to indicate the entered data is saved" and it's been registered since 2004. I think it's more in the context of forms and less about saving a modified file. Never seen it before either.
- samatman 4y ago
  If you enter "data" instead, you'll get the full context of the only one of those four which is applicable. I could quibble with some details of how these icons are designed, but I like that read and write point in the same directions as the carets in Unix redirects. That leaves up for "make data leave this device and go elsewhere", with down for "make a local copy of this data", aka upload and download. I must confess, however, if I saw the ISO icons in the wild, I wouldn't understand them. This is while already being aware of their existence.
- ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
  Yeah, their browser sucks. I have a few collections that I downloaded, that have software-relevant ones.
- guenthert 4y ago
  icon #6177 was bewildering. Apparently it is for "use on equipment" in the "eltrotechnical" domain. Without too much of a stretch of imagination, I can see a graph on an oscilloscope there, but why for 'save' and not for 'print' or selecting the time domain in a multi-function device?
zasdffaa 4y ago
> The customers hated it. Sigh. You screwed up. You gave the users what you wanted to give, not what they wanted. You must always test & iterate. > The next release had a lot more text. Yes, I was too general - different interface needs must get different interfaces. Sometimes icons aren't appropriate, sometimes icons + text is better, sometimes you have to get creative. > For one thing, icons tend not to translate well I said that. > We're best off using ISO icons[0], but designers hate them, and always insist on reinventing the wheel. That's a flaw in the designers, not the icons then. Are you blaming the icons for that failure? Edit: those icons don't seem to have anything to do with standard computer desktop UIs AFAICS, am I missing somethign?
- ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
  I don't understand the hostility. I simply told a story about one of the many "bad judgment" stories that I have encountered, and the lessons learned, therein. I wasn't asking for judgment.
  - zasdffaa 4y ago
    Was intended as blunt, not hostile (how does it come across hostile?). WRT 'giving the users what you want not what they want', that's a classic mistake I've made several times and finally learnt from. Hopefully you can get there faster than I did.
    - ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
      I did, many years ago. The story is from about 1993.

hulitu 4y ago

> Icons are used for a very good reason; us humans have a remarkable visual memory. That's why since some 10 years they change it regularly.