I'm having a hard time finding an appropriate icon for "factory reset". At the moment, I have a "warning" icon, but I am looking for something less aggressive and more to the point.
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5If that's a 1:1 icon, then I think you should consider a slightly smaller one ;-)– Jørn E. AngeltveitCommented Oct 21, 2011 at 9:56
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Lol, I didn't know how to resize the icon on stackexchange.– RandomblueCommented Oct 21, 2011 at 10:47
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With the options given below, I think your original choice is the best. The red triangle doesn't look like a button, but that's not as big a problem as looking like either the "undo" or "redo" button in a pair. Plus, not looking like a button means it's less likely to get hit unless they're looking for it.– IzkataCommented Oct 21, 2011 at 18:07
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8 Answers
The following icons have the following 'subtle/subconscious cues'.
- The backwards circular arrow is as if reversing the direction of a clock - ie taking a step backwards.
- The warning exclamation icon indicates something serious or of special note
- Red indicates the warning
- The point (if used) indicates a 'point' in time (ie reverting to a point in time)
- The vertical stroke within a circle is reminiscent of a power cycle button
- The black point is reminiscent of the hidden reset button that you have to poke a paper clip at to press it
- the black point with the circle indicates that you end up exactly where you started
I would also like to advocate that such a serious action also has clearly marked labelling.
answered Oct 21, 2011 at 9:32
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4Yes - but it is bad though isn't it? Usually a last resort - that's why it has to be accompanied by suitable labeling and explanation. I often think that reset buttons on the back of devices don't indicate enough (right next to the hole) that it is a bad thing to poke around with. For example, Google comes up with 163,000 results for "accidentally reset" Commented Oct 21, 2011 at 9:45
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9...followed by a third dialog which says 'Look I don't think you really understand the implications of what you're doing - why don't you sleep on it.' :-) Commented Oct 21, 2011 at 9:58
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2added as requested - also here. Don't 'copy image via popup menu within Opera though, as you may not get the transparency. Commented Oct 21, 2011 at 11:31
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8I think many users will confuse it with the well known "power off" icon. Commented Oct 21, 2011 at 11:57
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2I would confuse it for a one-step "undo" button. The exclamation point would mean there is no record for "redo".– IzkataCommented Oct 21, 2011 at 18:05
A circular back arrow seems to be a common solution: http://findicons.com/search/reset
The "default" icons look relevant too: http://findicons.com/search/default
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Site is throwing errors: "Unhandled Exception An unhandled exception was thrown by the application." Commented Oct 22, 2011 at 14:38
Do you have to use an icon? Could text be used instead? Or could you supplement an icon (like the one Roger posted above) with a tool tip or similar?
As Factory reset is generally quite a drastic undoable operation you need to make sure it is totally clear what the button does.
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1Yep, I have a dialog box with text. I just wanted a nice accompanying icon. Commented Oct 21, 2011 at 11:15
I'd shy away from icons that could be misinterpreted as recycle or undo. I quite like the reset icon used in the Acer manual:
answered Oct 21, 2011 at 9:22
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I think the reverse arrow style reset button is more ubiquitous (therefore meaningful) and one could argue that you are 'undoing' all the things you've done to the device when you set it back to factory default.– mahalieCommented Oct 21, 2011 at 17:58
The icon you suggest is certainly not good. It is a very specific icon coming from a traffic sign and it shouts "danger", "warning", "attention". It does not imply "return" or "reset" at all.
I know my LG monitor (which I cannot access right now) has an icon for it, I can't remember how it looks like but I know it is very bad and if it would not have "reset to factory defaults" text next to it, nobody would know what it means.
The best I can come up with is something like this:
Taken from http://www.iconfinder.com/icondetails/16946/128/power_restart_icon, but I would like to suggest that you also only use it in combination with text.
answered Oct 21, 2011 at 9:20
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1This is the same or similar to how refresh or reload is displayed. I would be concerned that this could cause confusion.– SheffCommented Oct 21, 2011 at 11:04
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1You could draw a little factory inside the circle. iconfinder.com/icondetails/62840/40/… Commented Oct 21, 2011 at 11:32
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1The arrow is going in the wrong direction for it to demonstrate going backwards - it's currently going clockwise– SmeggerCommented Jul 27, 2015 at 15:14
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@Smagger But it’s not undo! It’s reset. Set something again. I think this is very correct answer. How to prove this though? I think that clockwise is correct direction. It’s not step back to some concrete point Commented Nov 30, 2023 at 2:07
Depending on the size of the icon, might be a good idea to incorporate some sort of wrench (to corner of the icon) to suggest to the user that this is action will do things to the system configuration.
Although if the action is found only on via a configuration path of some sort (e.g. settings menu), the wrench is implied already and not useful.
On the downside, a wrench might also imply the action itself is configurable.
I would say that if you need an icon for this then the '!' is as good as any. There is no visual metaphor for a factory reset so people won't be specifically looking for it (as would be the case for the little 'Printer' icon or 'Save' icons).
If you really need to have an icon for this (and I'm not sure every single option requires an icon) then I'd stick with this one. It shows the importance of that option and should make people think twice before selecting it.
I'd suggest an icon which shows an indented button - such as the reset buttons you get on physical devices ( the one's you need a biro to press in ). It might be useful to show the biro as part of the graphic.
