Case study: It's easy to get users into a confused icon

Article Description: Please be careful with the icon and name of the program.

Do you find apps with beautiful icons and refreshing names that are more likely to be loved by users in the vast array of apps? As a developer, in the face of this work, can you ask yourself: "From the icon and name, can you know the role of this program?" ”

The name is too long, too biased, too around the mouth or duplicate, the icon is too concise, too loud, too boring are unqualified works, it is easy to let users into confusion. Let's take a look at a few examples.

Icons and names are bad

Calvetica is definitely a great feature, a calendar and GTD tool for an iPhone platform that KKK recommended in minimalist GTD and cell phones. The problem is that its icon and name are too bad.

What would you associate with this icon at first sight? Will it be a calendar? Or the Red Cross? This icon actually only reveals two layers of meaning:

• It can add something (plus)
• It's a very simple design.

Of course, it follows the name of the program: Calvetica, a noun composed of Cal and Vetica. But for non-English-speaking users, it is easy to misunderstand a rare word, even Lenovo to the "calculator" (Calculator). The plus sign in the exact icon is also related to the calculator, too bad.

Look at a more popular program: Foursquare, it's no better.

What would you associate with a tick on the icon? To-do items? or Nike? Suppose you do not know its check-in (Check in) game, will you try this program?

Wait, what does purple golf mean? Or a basketball? The user's mind is full of questions.

Then look at the program's name: Foursquare, literal translation over is "quartet." In fact, this is an American kid in school play a game, with rubber ball. Oh, this is a part of the user to understand that the original icon means that the rubber ball smashed in a square-shaped mark.

"Is this a game?" "Guess again wrong, this is trendy LBS check-in service." Who makes this icon look like a game.

The name is bad, but the icons are fantastic.

First to say Instagram, the word is composed of Insta plus Gram. The former is "immediately, immediately", the latter is very much like "Telegraph" (Telegram). No one could have guessed it had anything to do with Polaroid (Polaroid).

The name is difficult to read, the icon is very exciting:

It's a very intuitive place to understand its camera function, yes, Instagram is a camera. This icon expresses its basic function and usage, reduces the user's learning cost.

Similarly: Soulver, staring at the name, know what it does? I can't guess it's a calculator. (a variant of solver?) ）

The icons are bad, but the names are great.

First highlight the icon:

What is this thing? is a concise taiji, you will think of the Korean Air? Or is it a general-purpose program for MAC platforms? Not at all. By its name Simplenote, you will suddenly realize: Originally is has the synchronization function The notebook program!

Icons and names are great.

Icons and names are very good program many, in addition to familiar calendars, maps and other official procedures, look at the following two small programs.

Delivery status is "Express status query" meaning, this tool class software name is needed "simple and clear", save the user's time to enhance satisfaction.

Its icon is an unopened parcel:

Parcel posted on the exquisite Express single: sender, Recipient, barcode. The package is also covered with Scotch tape, the details are perfect and the performance is just right.

Pastebot is composed of Paste and Bot, the former is "pasting", the latter is "robot". The user immediately knows that this is an automated clipboard program. And then combine this cartoon icon:

Guess what it does: it's actually a cross-platform clipboard from Mac to IOS.

Some ideas

It took so long to enumerate good examples and bad examples, but to give developers some inspiration: smartphone users already have some inertia thinking, simply by "Non-mainstream" icon and name, can not stand out. You need to adapt to your users and make them feel comfortable and happy.