[perryizgr8]

I really don't like the Mute/Unmute button in Zoom. It shows a button showing a crossed out mic with "Unmute" below it. And the other state for this button is a mic with "Mute" below it. The button's icon and text are always opposite of each other. It is so confusing. I always have to think twice before clicking it.

[sokoloff]

I spend a lot of time on calls, but it’s always felt clear to me.

The icon is the state and the text is the action that will happen if you click it.

[perryizgr8]

But that's not how buttons work usually. Look at the reload button in Chrome. The icon shows you what will happen if you click it. The tooltip text also shows you what will happen if you click it. The text and icon are never opposite. At least I cannot think of another app that does this.

[sokoloff]

I happen to be standing in front of my coffee maker waiting for it to finish. It has a lit green LED (indicating it’s brewing) and a button under it labeled “Off”. Same conflict, but perfectly clear IMO.

[zaroth]

This is an age old debacle with toggle switches. How do you indicate it is ON/OFF and how do you indicate pushing it will turn OFF/ON particularly when the states are binary but not as simple as ON/OFF and you’re working in two dimensions.

You’re trying to show status and allow toggling all at once. There are basically 4 ways to do it with a binary setting and no one right way.

- Icon shows current status, Text shows current status. My coffee maker does this with a button that goes from “Single” to “Double”.

- Icon shows current status, text shows what a click will achieve (Zoom)

- Icon shows what a click will do, text shows current status (Example?)

- Icon shows what a click will do, text shows what a click will do (Play/Pause buttons typically work like this)

As a result, as a user you have to spend the cognitive load analyzing the icon, maybe trying to guess what the current setting is, to try to intuit what a click will actually achieve.

[mitjak]

except an LED is either on or off, but a UI button is always "on"

[sokoloff]

That one happens to be, but if the LED went green/red rather than green/off, I think it would be just as clear.