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It's Time to Change that Metaphor
Icons has allowed interaction designers to create a friendly face for otherwise complex things - like saving a document, email text, backing up your hard disk etc. But then the world changed, and today, none of the traditional icons makes any sense whatsoever.
The save icon, in the form of a floppy disk, is a particular good example. The young generation see it in the same light as the punch-card (assuming that they even know what a floppy disk is) it is also a completely useless way to store your files.
Most files no longer fit it and I would personally need close to one million floppy disk to backup my hard disks.
It is not much better to use a letter to indicate email. Only the old generation still uses paper to send out messages. The young generation never sends out a letter. The only reason young people go to the post office is when they want to send a package. The last time I sent a paper based letter was almost 4 years ago (and that was because I had to send a DVD).
So take a good look at the icons you use and change them before you start to look like an old geezer :)
Comments
Thomas Baekdal - Apr. 6, 2008
Kevin, You are, of course, right about many of the things you write. Coming up with new metaphors is a very difficult task at best.
Personally I use a folder with an outgoing arrow to indicate open, and with am ingoing (is that a word?) arrow to indicate saving the file.
I have not been able to come up with a better icon for email. Partly because I am from the generation where a snail-mail icon makes perfect sense to me - and partly because I have no idea how to do it otherwise.
But, I do think we should seriously consider changing the icons. The longer we wait, the worse the problem gets. We need to act now before the metaphors lose their meanings altogether.
I think that floppy disks make "some" sense because I can remember when I used one, and that it was used for storage. The next generation doesn't have this "experience", they have to be "told" that this icon represents storage because "that was how we did things when I was a kid" (not the best argument...)
To the young generation it would makes just as much sense to illustrate saving using a "punch card icon". To them, both a floppy disk and the punch card were objects used by their parents (or grandparents).
The point I am trying to make is that the only reason why we see the floppy disk as a usable metaphor is because of our past experiences/knowledge. If we want to keep making usable product we have to update our metaphors so that it also makes sense for the next generation. There has to be a link between the icon and the action - apart from "how we used to do it".
Of course the best solution is to come up with an icon that isn't depending on a certain technology. E.g. replacing the floppy disk with a hard disk doesn't really change much (today we store our files on a wide variety of "media"). This is the tricky part :)
Gray - Apr. 6, 2008
@Kevin did you realize visualizing a directory as a "folder" is also as ancient as a "floppy" for save?
@Thomas i think all these "symbols" are like hieroglyphs. we're just using a symbol to express an action. so the most "chronologically free" way to express these "concepts" is to have the word; like save wouldn't be a floppy or anything, but simply [SAVE]
Thomas Baekdal - Apr. 6, 2008
the most "chronologically free" way to express these "concepts" is to have the word; like save wouldn't be a floppy or anything, but simply [SAVE]- Gray
Yes and no. While I agree that it would be the most "chronological free way", the block of text isn't. The human brain is much faster at identifying an icon (i.e. a visual pattern) than a block of text.
You could, theoretically speaking, add a small graphical difference to each text action, like a colored line or a different frame - that would be sufficient enough for our brain to identify the pattern, but a colored line is not usable until you have learned what it relates to - and then we are back with the problem of unrelated icons.
Paolo - Apr. 9, 2008
i think that common users need standard icons. it may be cool to update icons but i think it should be done step by step according to the common users knowledge.
Thomas Baekdal - Apr. 9, 2008
Paolo, I agree - the problem is that we are already "two steps behind"...
Anonymous - Apr. 25, 2008
I know a project were they try to define standard icons for the whole world (mainly icons for airports and road signs etc.). But this is difficult since it is hard to find an icon that is widely accepted and well understood. One of the problems was the in some countries all the icons were pictured from the side will others try to accomplish 3D effects.
In addition; some parts of the world give different meanings to icons, so here is another difficulty.
And just as pointed out earlier, we seem to learn the definition of icons because they are placed in the context although they are not that well designed. Should you change that? So people have to learn it again?
Goos - Apr. 25, 2008
Whoops pushed the button too fast here!
I know a project were they try to define standard icons for the whole world (mainly icons for airports and road signs etc.). But this is difficult since it is hard to find an icon that is widely accepted and well understood. One of the problems was the in some countries all the icons were pictured from the side will others try to accomplish 3D effects.
In addition; some parts of the world give different meanings to icons, so here is another difficulty.
And just as pointed out earlier, we seem to learn the definition of icons because they are placed in the context although they are not that well designed. Should you change that? So people have to learn it again? I am not sure, but it makes the whole thing a lot more complex.
Published: Apr. 6, 2008
in work notes
Thomas Baekdal is a Writer, Interaction Designer, Change Advocate and Project Manager.
Kevin Cannon - Apr. 6, 2008
I think if you try to come up with better ones then you'll see why they've stuck.
It's the same reason people use the word 'movies' or say 'video store' even though they're going to rent a DVD.
Metaphors are often fairly flawed, even the floppy disk one was flawed once you started saving to the hard-drive.
Ultimately, I think we just need symbols for various things, and that as long as people recognise them, or can learn them quickly that's all that's important. If you try to ignore things like this, then you can end up creating more convoluted metaphors and icons in the attempt to create something that is more "correct", but convention is simply more useful in most circumstances.
It reminds me of a company I worked in where a discussion of the term 'click here' came up, and how it wasn't appropriate to blind users. They decided to use the term "select here" instead, because they thought that covered both. Of course, in reality it was a terrible idea since select has it's own meaning, and it generally is just insulting to assume that blind users will be offended that they can't "click". So, in a similar vein, I'd avoid second guessing the floppy icon, and just be happy that most people will understand it's meaning.