Icon Usability: When and How to Evaluate Digital Icons

Summary: Effective icons depend on recognizability and interpretation. Evaluate them with methods appropriate for your specific research questions

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Icon Usability

Effective icons can increase usability by helping users understand and interpret available functionality. However, when poorly implemented, they harm usability and introduce confusion.

In Digital Icons That Work , I emphasize the importance of two variables that affect overall icon usability: icon recognizability and icon interpretation.

Icon recognizability is concerned with whether people can identify the shape or symbol that the icon depicts.  (Does the star look like a star?)

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