Joshua Porter's post most clearly captures the value of using both, "The reason why icons text works best is because that combination provides the most information...which by sheer probability makes it more likely that a user will recognize them when they need to."
I would add that icon text creates a larger target area than just icon or text, making acquisition easier. There are countless examples of bad icons and poorly worded labels. That does not demonstrate that either icons or text are by their very nature ineffective, but rather that someone failed to devise a clear iconic or textural representation. Both icons and text can be effectively used either independently or together. Ultimately, any system - iconic, text based, or combined - should be evaluated by target users. There is no hard a fast rule about when icons work best and when text is better. Icons have the potential to make localization of an application easier, but they can add complication as well. Just as there are cultural difference in language meaning that must be considered for translation, the same holds for visual representations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=40534 ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [email protected] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
