Recently, I've seen that Gmail and Dropbox have changed their notification icon and have started using bell.
I would like to understand:
- Why bell?
- Is it becoming industry standard?
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What icon was it before the bell?– J_rgenAug 5, 2013 at 6:36
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1When you have million active users at any one day, whatever you are doing are pretty much industry standard.– AdityaAug 5, 2013 at 6:50
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@J_rgen Previously, it was just a box with number of notifications. i.imgur.com/MgKPL.png And about Dropbox I guess they didn't have any or something like inbox was there. nsbasic.com/images/blog/deploydropbox1.png– AnkitAug 5, 2013 at 6:58
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1 Answer
Bells have been used for signaling forever, really.
On that premise, it's easy to go for a bell when it comes to notifications, as they are just that; signals that something is happening.
A bell requires - maybe even demands - your attention, and so does a notification!
As to whether it's industry standard or not, it currently doesn't pass a quick Google test*, but as mentioned by others, Gmail's/Dropbox's adoption of this pattern might help.
On top of that, it doesn't necessarily have to be industry standard to be the right icon.
Edit: *if you alter your search to the word "alarm", which might be less contaminated, the result does get a lot closer.
