

9 Rules for Clear and Intuitive Icons - andrewvalish
http://uxmovement.com/buttons/9-rules-to-make-your-icons-clear-and-intuitive/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+uxmovement+%28ux+movement%29

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untog
I'm not sure I agree with all of these. I would never have guessed that a
paper plane could represent sending an e-mail.

Similarly, I would never associate an underlined, blue L with a link. Maybe
I'm too far into the web development rabbit hole, but I thought most people
these days associated a chain link with an internet hyperlink.

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trhaynes
Who is writing these "rules"? They sound more like opinions, which is fine if
they're coming from a reputed source like Tufte or Nielsen. But who is
"anthony"?

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tjpick
I'm continually disappointed to see uxmovement.com posts feature here.

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jamesgeck0
The other reason to label buttons with icons is so that they become larger and
are easier to target.

Also, I'm sure I've seen that row of house icons before. Anyone know the
original source?

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trhaynes
I think Lukas Mathis created it for his post "Realism in UI Design" [1].

[1]
[http://ignorethecode.net/blog/2010/01/21/realism_in_ui_desig...](http://ignorethecode.net/blog/2010/01/21/realism_in_ui_design/)

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radley
One rule for clear and intuitive icons:

1\. Google Image Search for name + "icon". Match most prominent design to your
style.

This solves almost all of your icon needs.

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fleitz
Icons should be iconic, a paperplane is not iconic of email. Icons take time
to establish, you can't just create an icon, something becomes an icon as it
becomes recognizable through repeated use.

As for the "Home" icon example I can clearly see the Home icon from OS X. The
home icon from OSX is a better icon because more people are familiar with it.

Should the Save icon in Google docs be a floppy disk or a cloud? The floppy
makes no sense when you think about it, but it's a better icon because for 20
years people have been clicking that to save their files. I'd even argue the
same thing for the link icon, it's on enough interfaces that people who want
to link things know to click that button.

You should only really create new icons when there isn't something existing.
Buy an icon pack and be done with it. People will be more familiar with them
because they are used around the web.

edit: My bad, there is no save icon in Google Docs, but if there was...

