| I perceived it that way as well, but I have to partly agree. Here's my reasoning: if someone just invented a new icon (created it from scratch and gave it a meaning), they should be aware that majority of their users will not understand the meaning of the icon, at least not at first. Historical icons, such as a floppy disk or a cogwheel, are fair game. Creating new icons is dangerous territory, especially if you are hoping for your users to focus on the content, rather than getting familiar with your UI. What do you think the following two icons (taken from utradea example) represent: * A lightbulb with a dollar sign * A deck of cards Having to hover (which may or may not work on mobile), and actually clicking the icons and observing what happens, is not a good recipe for good UX. To read more about actual authority on UX, I recommend reading about Jakob Nielsen's 10 general principles[1] for interaction design. [1] https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ten-usability-heuristics/ |