142
votes
Accepted
Star vs Heart icon to represent save as a favourite
They have (slightly) different meanings and usage
Although both icons are similar and both are popularly recognized, they do have slightly different connotations.
❤ The heart icon
Is more emotive ...
- 40.4k
138
votes
At least one is mandatory. How do I make this clear?
You could split the list.
mandatory items as radio buttons.
optionals as checkboxes
This also makes sure the attention per importance isn't divided, and allows for easier comparison between ...
- 1,649
119
votes
I'm designing a no-data USB cable : How should the end be marked?
Unfortunately such cable is not compliant with USB specification, as even in usb power delivery the data lines are used to negotiate power.
You should not mark it with USB (or even USB-like) logo at ...
- 1,195
97
votes
Accepted
Why do Radio Buttons not fill the entire outer circle?
It’s not entirely clear that a black circle means “yes” or selected, while a white circle means “no” or non-selected. Depending on what the user regards as foreground and background, it may go either ...
- 36.4k
76
votes
Button for "Play, but from beginning" for a scrubber UX
v1
I would suggest that the play button stays the same as it always has - a triangle to begin then a pause once playback begins. But, once playback has started, a new button appears like this:
The ...
- 944
75
votes
I'm designing a no-data USB cable : How should the end be marked?
You can never beat straight text ("Power Only"); that way, there can be no confusion.
That said, I actually have such a cable at home which has an icon very similar to this in a raised profile on ...
- 841
72
votes
Accepted
What is the origin of the power icon?
It's a stylised form of the '1' and the '0' for 'On' and 'Off'. You can see the evolution here.
- 4,819
71
votes
Using cross marks to indicate benefits
Add some catchy column titles.
As it is right now, it looks like it's not free from animal testing, as the "No animal testing" item is not checked. Adding column headers will allow you to ...
- 19.3k
59
votes
Accepted
Is it ok to use arrows to indicate money movement in & out of an account?
This is perhaps perilously close to an off-topic icon discussion, but I think you could modify the arrow icons to make the outgoing versus incoming direction clearer. Essentially, you need to give ...
- 14.3k
57
votes
Accepted
Info Icon vs Question Mark
The convention is that the question mark indicates extensive help is available, provides an interface for someone having a problem to click, and implies that a more sophisticated means of resolving ...
- 2,106
57
votes
Accepted
Why is the file icon usually folded from the right corner?
The original, by Norm Cox, had the dog ear in the bottom left. This was made for Xerox Star system, and it was a bit of an odd choice since typically, in a book, the dog ear is in the top right corner*...
- 1,556
54
votes
Accepted
What is the difference between these 2 menu icons: 3-dots (kebab) and 3-lines (hamburger)
Generally speaking they are used to open different types of menu.
The 'burger' is used to open a 'burger menu', which is presented as a
drawer that appears from the side of the screen and occupies ...
- 14.3k
53
votes
Icon for adding/removing from favourites: indicating state vs. action
I have to say, the hollow-vs-gold-star state approach is standard enough that I think it would be your best bet. Not only is it common enough to become intuitive, but it acts as both state AND action: ...
- 3,083
49
votes
What are some good alternatives for using a lot of icons in software?
I think there are three problems with your old icons.
An action seems to be represented by an image of a clipboard. Since most icons represent actions, the clipboard is superflous, only clutters the ...
- 591
47
votes
Accepted
Why is the share icon always different?
Other than just being design choices made by different companies (and the trademarks/copyrights that come with them) you must take into account what the icons are intended to represent. A good icon ...
- 15.2k
43
votes
Gear icon vs. ellipsis (3 dots)
Both the icons convey a different meaning; even if they tell a user that there are additional options underneath.
A gear icon is derived from a traditional mechanical sense of gears and cogs defining ...
- 1,174
39
votes
Accepted
Why are the "Undo" and "Redo" arrow icons commonly round?
I've done some search without any specific result, so I will answer considering usability principles and software history:
Legacy
The undo function was already here in the 70's but was not until the ...
- 10.4k
38
votes
Accepted
Why is the settings icon either associated with gears or a wrench + screwdriver
Traditionally the operation of a mechanical tool was determined by the physical constraint of the position/type/size of the gears used. So if you wanted to change a tool setting, you would have to ...
- 3,806
38
votes
Accepted
Do Samsung's Marshmallow skin Quick toggles have enough contrast?
In short, NO, they do not have enough contrast.
According to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) they mostly do not have enough contrast. Only 1 out of 8 tests gets a pass.
But the dark blue ...
- 8,261
38
votes
At least one is mandatory. How do I make this clear?
I think this solution could be usable. Note that the mandatory item is selected AND disabled. The user is forced to select one of the mandatory items through a dropdown menu
download bmml source &...
- 1,774
35
votes
Button for "Play, but from beginning" for a scrubber UX
IEC 60417 is a standard for symbols to put on electrical devices (TVs, VCRs, washing machines, MRIs etc.) and ISO 7000 collects these. Each costs around 100 bucks, but there is a free preview PDF.
It’...
- 2,490
35
votes
Why do Radio Buttons not fill the entire outer circle?
I guess a completely full radio button can be easily confused with a bulleted text:
Whereas an empty circle perceptually gives the feeling of incompleteness: needs filling or has to be filled:
Even ...
- 15.4k
34
votes
Button for "Play, but from beginning" for a scrubber UX
you can use a restart / reset button, here's an example from YouTube, the leftmost button
- 759
34
votes
Why is the share icon always different?
Branding.
Nothing else.
We could go on and on for hours throwing conjectures and theories, but in the end, it's only a branding thing.
Your icons , from left to right are from Apple, Apple, ...
- 33.4k
34
votes
I'm designing a no-data USB cable : How should the end be marked?
As others have stated, icons are unlikely to be seen.
As this question shows, a common way to solve this is to make the cable end visually distinct using colour.
In this case, the red end is power ...
- 441
33
votes
Accepted
Does Computer mean Desktop and Laptops?
I think your specification is already misguided:
that they MUST be on a desktop (or laptop) to properly use the system
Such classifications aren't what you actually care about. What matters are ...
- 711
33
votes
Accepted
Is the "filter" icon widely recognised by users?
The NNGroup sums it up pretty nicely here: Icon Usability
A user’s understanding of an icon is based on previous experience. Due to the absence of a standard usage for most icons, text labels are ...
- 1,345
32
votes
What is the origin of the eject symbol?
It is difficult to find supportive evidence for this question. From what I've read about Philip Olsson's pictograms (some starting points are here and here), I would say that it, like the other media ...
- 687
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible