ICONS
Icons are now largely taken for granted in information technology, they also permeate western and other cultures. To some information system - interface design purists 'icons' are clearly defined. For the rest of us there is bound to be some overlap and blurring of what is and is not an icon. Must they be within a certain size? Purely graphical - ruling out an example below? With these provisos in mind what types of icons are in use on the web and in other applications ?
| PICT ICONS | Pictures,
photographs and images of various sorts that are used as links. They
may be information rich themselves, or suggest in a smaller image
size the hidden content to which they provide a link. They may make
use of text description or an accompanying instruction, such as:
 |
| Websites may employ
icons not used elsewhere, or limited to a specific purpose: e.g.
selling books, planning health care, calculating equations. As these
purposes suggest examples may help support an interface. Due to
their specificity it may take time for users to learn the meaning of
the icons, but once grasped the functionality of a program or
website will be realised.
At conferences I recall 'talk' of the design of icons specific to nursing and health care, but universal across health and social care information systems. |
SITE SPECIFIC ICONS |
| UNIVERSAL (GENERAL) ICONS | In these examples the icon is generally understood, such as the meaning of arrows to portray navigation options - forward or backwards, a printer to print, scissors to cut. These are icons in the purist sense - without the need to resort to text. |
