Iconic Stuff
In searching for icons in my daily life, I realized that some are quite obvious, while, to first-time users, some may create confusion or lead people to ignore them completely. Most icons I interact with assist me with usability, but some are so complex that they require a Google search to understand. Overall, it is clear that the intention of icons is to save people time and create mental models that guide us to a better understanding of our surroundings without lengthy, repetitive explanations as to how things should work or what you ought to do in a specific situation.
The first icon I looked at is the paperclip icon, visible in Gmail when I’m drafting a new email. However obvious this icon’s use is to me now, I’m sure the first time I saw it, I had no idea what it signified. Cleverly, however, if you hover over each of the icons in the toolbar, Gmail provides you with a brief description. Here, the description reads “Attach files.” Ok, makes sense. And the skeumorphic paperclip helps with my memorability for future use. As a literal paperclip would “attach” one file to another, the paperclip icon attaches files to the email you’re drafting.
The second icon I looked at is completely obvious to me, and I assume to most, if not all first-time users as well. The skeumorphic design of the icon — an image of a battery as a descriptor for battery life percentage makes sense. The Macbook laptop that I use also allows the user to either display battery percentage as a numerical value or simply display the battery icon. Either way, when the battery is at 10%, the symbol turns red, signifying me that I need to re-charge it. Simple and understandable to all. The battery life icon is a great design.
The third icon I looked at was the “No Parking” symbol. With a red slash through the letter, it is clear that something is being prohibited. This icon seems obvious to me in the U.S.…but since I’ve been living in Mexico for the past 2 weeks, it has caused a minor misunderstanding. Since I know little to no Spanish, I was unaware that estacionar means parking. Whether it be my misunderstanding of the language or my lack of attention paid to any signage, this slip-up led me to park incorrectly and receive a parking ticket. It’s clear to me now that road signs are something you have to briefly study up on before driving in a new country. Fun learning experience, hey? Nothing a quick Google search couldn’t have solved. For me, it’s always interesting to observe the differences in icons across different countries and cultures.
The fourth icon I looked at was one I use every day. The “Do Not Disturb” icon on the iPhone was completely ignored to me (and various friends of mine) before someone pointed out its use to me…and I then pointed it out to friends. It is an extremely useful tool for me, since I often wake in the night to the buzzing of notifications and cannot fall back asleep. But I think the icon itself is not an obvious one to the first-time user. The moon could have a multitude of meanings and is not recognizable enough for it to be automatically understood without any description underneath the image. Now that I know what it means, the moon does make a bit more sense, since I assume others, like myself, use it at night (night — moon..ok) to help them sleep. I give this one a low usability score, and it’s a shame, because I think it’s one of the most useful icons for an iPhone user to understand.
The fifth and final icon I looked at was the stove dial icon. Ever since reading The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman, this one GETS me. On most stovetops I use, I am completely clueless as to which dial to turn to ignite the correct burner. This is because there is zero consistency amongst stove manufacturers, so it changes from model to model, brand to brand. This one, however, is super easy to understand. The four circular icons above the dials clearly indicate which dial coincides with the correct burner. BIG ROUND OF APPLAUSE to this model. I no longer have to play the guessing game as to which dial coincides with which burner and (unsure how this is even possible with a 50% change of getting it right) getting it wrong 85% of the time. Bravo.
