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0 pointsSkyPuncher2mo ago0 comments

I tend to disagree with the author on this. Reading actual words takes time (and, for me, mental energy). I have to look at each character, say the word in my head, then visualize what action that word means. Where as icons have a lot more built in meaning (but lack specificity). I tend to use them as a _local_ fuzzy filter (unless it's a common, well known icon like share) then read the words to understand exactly what they mean.

In other words, I'm not using icons to find a single action. I'm using icons to quickly understand the available options to me. Meaning, they're only there to help me compare and contrast options within the same visual context. It's fine for the same action to have different icons in different places. When I'm looking at the "File" menu, I'm not really concerned what the action looks like on the toolbar (let alone a different app).

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ido2mo ago

> Reading actual words takes time (and, for me, mental energy). I have to look at each character, say the word in my head, then visualize what action that word means.

It might sound flippant but I'm asking in good faith: do you have a reading disability (like dyslexia)? I (and I think this is generally the case) don't consciously read words character by character or say them in my head, it feels more like my brain pattern-recognizes whole words and I understand them "at a glance".

SkyPuncherOP2mo ago

I don’t believe I have dyslexia, but I’m an incredibly slow reader. By contrast, I’m an extremely good skimmer - but in a are much easier for me than text.

sovnade2mo ago

But that's the author's point, no? Icons are great when used as visual shortcuts, but the way they're implemented makes absolutely no sense to the point of being detracting. They're inconsistent from menu to menu, even in the same application, and don't even necessarily represent the action they're assigned to.

SkyPuncherOP2mo ago

> They're inconsistent from menu to menu, even in the same application, and don't even necessarily represent the action they're assigned to.

My point is that none of that matters. They just need to represent something within the context they're being used.

afandian2mo ago

That's different from how menu icons apart have been used clasically. In e.g. Microsoft Office the save icon was present in the File menu along the text, and also the toolbar, stand-alone.

And it was clear enough that you would trust the stand-alone save icon to perform the action you expected. Icons were also selectively chosen for common actions.

If icons are considered non-deterministic and non-canonical, then they can't [confidently] be used stand-alone.

Also, I'll meet your data point of 1 with mine. I have an iPhone and find it far easier to pick an app from the list of names than pick an icon. I frequently mix them up (and I only use a dozen routinely)

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0 pointsSkyPuncher2mo ago0 comments

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ido2mo ago

> Reading actual words takes time (and, for me, mental energy). I have to look at each character, say the word in my head, then visualize what action that word means.

SkyPuncherOP2mo ago

I don’t believe I have dyslexia, but I’m an incredibly slow reader. By contrast, I’m an extremely good skimmer - but in a are much easier for me than text.

sovnade2mo ago

SkyPuncherOP2mo ago

> They're inconsistent from menu to menu, even in the same application, and don't even necessarily represent the action they're assigned to.

My point is that none of that matters. They just need to represent something within the context they're being used.

afandian2mo ago

That's different from how menu icons apart have been used clasically. In e.g. Microsoft Office the save icon was present in the File menu along the text, and also the toolbar, stand-alone.

And it was clear enough that you would trust the stand-alone save icon to perform the action you expected. Icons were also selectively chosen for common actions.

If icons are considered non-deterministic and non-canonical, then they can't [confidently] be used stand-alone.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse