Dangers of icons

Over at Mambo we are currently planning changes to the User Interface. Most GUI (graphical user interface) screens use icons to graphically represent the function or action a user can take. But choosing the right icon, that has the same meaning across languages and cultures can be a real challenge.

Programmers are not know for their interface design expertise and unless a volunteer, open source project has GUI experts donating their time, creating the perfect GUI can be a hit and miss exercise. I took responsibility for preparing a plan. As a result, I am spending a lot of time reading, studying up, and analysing GUI in action in various applications.

Then it hit me! Most GUI I have looked at have the same glaring fault. Even Microsoft, with its mega millions and in-house staff, have the same problem - the icon we all tend to use to represent the “save” function.

Think about it - the most commonly used icon is one of a floppy disk. Since when did a floppy disk represent saving data? Or, more to the point, how many people using computers today have even used a floppy disk? For several years now, PC’s have not shipped with floppy drives - they are a thing of the past. Backup a megabyte of data? You’ve got to be kidding! I’ve got single pdf files that are larger than that! The linkage between a floppy disk and the save function was always tenuous at best, but in an age where we are fast approaching a time that a majority of users won’t even know what a floppy is, I believe we need to find a new way to graphically represent the “save” function.

Ah, but that’s the problem. With Microsoft and others using that floppy disk icon, there does not appear to be any viable alternative. At least, not yet.