MyNeu: Problems with Icon Design 10-28-2004
In user interface design icons play a major role, as they provide the user with a simple visual cue intended to easily convey the meaning of a feature or action at a glance. Icon design in web applications is especially paramount as web users typically scan pages as opposed to actively reading them. The choice of icons can greatly affect how users interact with a web application and ultimately the usability of such an application.
The recent design update of MyNeu brings a new set of icons for the web application’s utility navigation (Email, Calendar, My Account, Logout, and Help). Unfortunately these new icons are a step backwards for MyNeu and I’ll take a look at each one to examine the pros and cons.
The email icon luckily has not varied much since the previous design. The icon of an envelope has become a fairly common standard on the web as a representation for email.
Calendar
Typically we see calendar icons represented by their physical form, that of the wall-hanging or desk calendar. The previous MyNeu design used such an icon but the new design takes a more disconnected approach by using an icon with the representation of a sun. This breaks away from the standard conventions we see on many other major sites such as Yahoo! or MSN. When using standard conventions the user has less to learn about how to use a particular site and in turn increases the ease of use. MyNeu took a major step backwards on this one and failed to capitalize on what users already know.
My Account
There are times when it can be difficult to represent a feature in a simplified icon representation and My Account is one of those times. The previous design represented the feature with an icon of a key hole which in many ways is a fairly close mapping to the feature’s function, that of changing your account’s password. The new design utilizes an icon representation of a treasure chest which unfortunately is severely lacking in comparison to the key hole’s mapping.
Logout
MyNeu’s previous design showcased a lock as its icon representation for logout which provided the user the with a mapping of security when clicked. The new design has one of the worst icon representations I have ever seen, that of a pinwheel. It can be said that this icon provides the user with ZERO help as to what its function is. In more cases it probably hinders the user’s perception of the site as he looks for the logout feature.
Help
The question mark is without a doubt one of the most common web conventions used in representing help. Luckily MyNeu managed to carry that icon over from their previous design.