Icons have evolved significantly since their introduction in 1984, starting as simple black and white images and now incorporating colors, gradients, and flat designs. They play an important role in user interfaces by reducing cognitive load and allowing users to understand concepts and suggested actions more quickly than through text alone. Well-designed icons can convey ideas efficiently, help users navigate interfaces intuitively, and enhance accessibility and the overall user experience. The future of icons may involve incorporating sound and other multi-dimensional experiences to add further value.

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• Icons are an integral part of the digital interface
• In a broader perspective, icons are the visual images, symbols and drawings used in a work of art or a study
• A more relevant and accurate meaning in UX terms would be – an illustration that represents a concept or an idea or
suggests an action
• Let’s dive deep to understand the concept of icons and its footprint in effective UX design
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• It took 30 years after the invention of computers to get graphical interface
which was black & white
• 1984 – First aesthetically designed icons for Macintosh
• 1985 – First colored set of icons
• 1989 – Icons with gradients introduced
• 90’s – Everyone started playing with colors & 3D forms
• 2010 – Microsoft introduced flat icons paying tribute to earlier versions
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Transformation of Icons: A timeline
Evolution of the icon for a calculator on Windows
from 1980 to 2009
Image Source

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• Icons play important role especially on screens with complex, saturated
information
• In case of Airbnb, icons reduce cognitive load by removing the need to read the
long lists of information while booking
• This design provides the user with a gamut of options and suitable actions in the
smartest ways possible
• Smart interactive icons add value to your engagement and hooks you for the
next action
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Informed & faster decision making

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• Icons exist to facilitate better, clearer and faster communication. The main aim of icons is to help users find, understand and
execute actions efficiently. One can say icons were a manifestation of – a picture can say a thousand words
• Most designers rely on icons as an essential element of design. Designed well, they convey ideas more quickly than words and
often take up less space
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Benefits of using icons

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• From the perspective of usability and adaptability, icons easily fit a finger’s area of operation and also work well with a mouse
cursor
• It is easier to create a brand recall and a consistent brand language, if you have a distinct icon library
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Benefits of using icons

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• In case of a broader audience, icons break language barriers and communicate the messages efficiently
• Icons enhance your design making it look clearer, neater and appealing to the eyes
• When icons are paired with text, there is a definite improvement in accessibility. Icons are an alternative implementation to put
forth the information effectively – text with a visual clue. Icons help users to discover, interpret and utilize the information,
without any confusion or delayed translation
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Benefits of using icons

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The important aspect to keep in mind is that, icons help make the designs more accessible to the user by guiding, informing,
entertaining them and enhancing the overall user experience.
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Contribution of Iconography

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Icons address the user’s convenience, comfort and need. The value addition of these smartly designed icons are increasing the
product’s overall efficiency
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Contribution of Iconography

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Icons symbolize brand, product, an idea, a message
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Contribution of Iconography

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• Undoubtedly, iconography is one of the most successful inclusions made to the user-computer interface
• The future of iconography lies in evolving into a multi-dimensional experience and sound is a powerful possibility that can
add value to icons
• These new practices are called Earcons and Auditory Icons
• There is already a considerable amount of contribution in this area
• You can read more about the future of iconography here
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Conclusion

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Thank you
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