Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!csus.edu!csusac!unify!Unify.com!raveling
From: raveling@Unify.com (Paul Raveling)
Subject: Icons &/| text (was Re: Thing ICON)
Message-ID: <xrdslcn@Unify.Com>
Keywords: wanted - graphical representation for generic objects
Sender: news@Unify.Com (news admin)
Organization: Unify Corporation (Sacramento)
References: <1991Jun17.111116.810@syd.dit.CSIRO.AU> <1991Jun18.181536.14156@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> <fm=l1-r@rpi.edu>
Date: Mon, 24 Jun 91 18:57:50 GMT

In article <fm=l1-r@rpi.edu>, prisoner@aix01.aix.rpi.edu (Allen S. Firstenberg) writes:

> This is exactly the problem that occurs with _ANY_ interface, but is
> particularly obvious with GUIs - how do you know that your graphical icon
> will mean something to the user.
> 
> The answer - as far as I can tell - is that you can't.

	Good point.  In surveying interactive design tools
	(alias user interface designers) at Xhibition it was obvious
	that everyone realized icons weren't enough.  A common
	trend is to show BOTH text and an icon.  In some current work
	I've been trying to design icons with appropriate text embedded
	in them.

	Some design tools allow switching between text and iconic
	renditions.  Among these, people usually preferred to demonstrate
	with icons but use text.  I didn't find anyone who could recall
	what the standard Motif icons were well enough to use them
	in their own company's product.

	It may be true that one picture is worth a thousand words,
	but that may be a different thousand words for everyone who
	looks at the picture.
 
> Then why use graphical icons at all?

	Icons can be valuable for rapid recognition of GUI objects,
	especially when the equivalent text would be relatively long.

	SOMETIMES it's easier to identify something with a simple
	icon than to find equivalent concise text.  Unfortunately
	that's not true most of the time.

	Aside from being cryptic, icons usually devour more screen
	real estate than text, producing clutter and sometimes limiting
	the user's access to information.

	Icons DO belong in user interfaces to some extent, but we'd better
	be aware of when they are or are not the best way to meet the user's
	requirements.


------------------
Paul Raveling
Raveling@Unify.com