The article argues that relying solely on icons in interfaces can hinder user understanding and efficiency. Icons often fail to convey clear, singular meanings, leading to ambiguity and requiring additional cognitive effort from users. As the number of features increases, the challenge of discerning icons also grows, complicating navigation. The author advocates for incorporating text labels alongside icons to improve clarity and reduce mental strain, emphasizing that text can facilitate quicker comprehension and more seamless user experiences.
‘Even the simplest icons can create ambiguity. While a trash can icon reliably communicates
Each encounter requires a split-second of processing that might seem negligible but accumulates across interactions.
As feature sets grow, we often resort to increasingly abstract or subtle visual distinctions between icons.
The burden of communication increases for each individual icon as an interface's feature set expands.
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