Designed for Use, 2nd Edition

Symbols

Many of the visual elements in a modern user interface are meant to stand for actions or ideas. The little pencil isn’t meant as a literal representation of a physical pencil; it represents the idea “edit.” The stop sign isn’t there as a signal to stop a car; it’s meant to alert you to a potential problem.

What do you suppose this button is trying to convey?

Without any context, users can’t be sure, but a likely explanation would be that they need to activate the button to take a picture.

What about this button?

Clearly, trying to make the ...