[themitigating]

Let's say that you have a set of symbols and 30% of the people who view them are able to derive their meaning without research. Why not try to increase that number? What's the downsides excluding the time making the new symbols.

[philwelch]

Another downside would be people who know the existing symbols having to learn the new ones.

[themitigating]

Not if the symbols are intuitive. Remember I'm saying that in a population you are increasing the percentage that can derive the meaning of the symbols without research. That includes those that already knew the previous symbols, so it doesn't matter

30% to 50% regardless of who was what type in the past set. It's like if you changed the floppy disk icon in MS Word to a text box that read "SAVE".

[philwelch]

Right, which means people who don’t speak English would be at a disadvantage even if they recognize the universal “save” icon that’s been used for 30 years.