Computer Network Router User Manual

CHAPTER 5
Icons
5-2 Designing Effective Icons
Thinking Up an Icon Image 5
An icon is like the proverbial picture that’s worth a thousand words only if it
clearly identifies what it represents. Coming up with a tiny, grainy, black-and-
white visual image that is even relevant, let alone unambiguous, can be
difficult. Far more of us have learned basic verbal skills than basic visual skills.
There are several approaches you can take to finding a visual image that
identifies what it represents.
If an icon has some correlation to a physical device, such as a calculator or a
clock, the icon should resemble the device. If the icon represents part of a
metaphor, such as an in box as a metaphor for the place where incoming
communications are kept, the icon should resemble its metaphorical counter-
part. For example, the In Box icon resembles a real in box, not some other
repository such as a folder or a flour canister.
If you need to design an icon for a more conceptual entity, such as an applica-
tion or part of an application, you can use one of the following approaches.
Try making the icon represent the function of the application. If the function
is complex and hard for new users to understand, think about how you
could explain the idea to someone who doesn’t use a Newton device, and try
to generate some images that way. Often the terms you use and the analogies
you come up with to explain the concept can provide clues for visual images.
Another approach to designing conceptual icons is making the icon represen-
tative of a product name. This may work for your product in one location,
but remember that some product names, and thus product icons, may be
impossible to localize. For example, in the United States, an icon for extensions
could have something to do with an extension cord. In other languages, the
word used for extension cords may have nothing to do with extensions, and
therefore an icon based on the word extension cord would be meaningless.
Another drawback to this approach is that product names are often not
finalized until late in the development process, so you might not have much
time in which to design an icon based on the final product name.
It is often easiest to create icons that represent objects (nouns) rather than
actions (verbs). For example, the function of deleting something is represented
by a wastebasket (an object) rather than by some image of the action of