Re: [Usability] Save Icon

[Alan Horkan <horkana maths tcd ie>]

On Mon, 30 Jan 2006, Manu Cornet wrote:

> Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2006 14:58:38 +0100
> From: Manu Cornet <Manu Cornet GMail com>
> To: usability gnome org
> Cc: Shaun McCance <shaunm gnome org>
> Subject: Re: [Usability] Save Icon
>
>
>
> Hi !
>
> > > I completely disagree.  Icons in menus reinforce the
> > > connection between the action and the icon.  It helps
> > > you learn the icon, so you can use the icon in the
> > > toolbar effectively.
>
> There are several cases where icons in menus are *extremely* useful. For
> example, while using Inkscape, if you want to "Mirror" and object
> horizontally, and without menu icons, you're going to scan each line of
> text to see which item suits your need. If you have good icons, you
> immediately spot the one you need. Same in GIMP for many, many actions
> you can perform on an image.

Conversely if you have bad icons (or poor eyesight) or several very
simliar icons it can slow you down.  A balanced approach is better and
clear text labels help avoid the ambiguity of icons.

> I remember very clearly that, in this particular situation, I said to
> myself "Wow, menu icons are really a strong asset in Linux, over
> Windows". And I believe there are countless such cases.

I will always think the old Mac OS icons were the best and conceptually
clearest icons.  High colour systems allow for more detailed realistic
looking icons but I think it can be counter productive.  Roadsigns tend to
be limited to a very small colour palette and the drawings are very
stylised to emphasise the concept rather than the specific drawing.

But I'm getting way offtopic with all the comments on artwork.

- Alan