[RupertSalt]

In the days of Windows 3.1 and prior Macintosh art, we sort of took it for granted that menus were labeled with English words to reflect the actions taken. Icons provided additional information, like "Hold down Command to do this" or something.

As computer OSes became globalized, i18n and l10n began to demand that we abandon English words to describe GUI actions. I believe this was the correct decision.

So I viewed icons+text in a GUI as transitional, a learning period. I learned to recognize the icons for what they represent, the skeumorphism of it all, while the icons plus text were displayed on my screen (I mostly used Ubuntu and KDE.)

When the time was right, I toggled the setting to remove the text altogether. I was ready to spread my wings and fly through an icon-rich UX that no longer relied on words or text to convey rich meanings.

Now this means that I can make mistakes or I need to experiment in terms of "What does THIS button do?!" in order to learn new icon vocabulary. But I definitely prefer it now to the English text, and really if anyone uses a modern device proficiently, they've picked up a decent vocabulary for this already.

Many people neglect to take into account that, for example, an app in an app store is represented more strongly by its chosen icon and branding than its title! Google Play lets us search by name, but that is not very efficient when I'm searching for a particular icon by description!

It also presents challenges to verbal tech support, whether by phone, by Meet, or over the shoulder, because how do you describe graphical icons and gestures? How to translate them back into English words? UI/UX designers have a hidden vocabulary for controls and widgets that aren't common knowledge, but can really enhance understanding once we can name them the same way the pros do.

Yes, icons can be used badly. Yes, people who are still learning may lean on text labels too. But graphical UIs are mature and we all need to acquire a vocabulary for these, so that information is conveyed across national and linguistic barriers.

[n8cpdx]

> But graphical UIs are mature and we all need to acquire a vocabulary for these, so that information is conveyed across national and linguistic barriers.

Or we could just translate the text?

Colors and pictures aren’t exactly free of cultural baggage, either.

[st_goliath]

yes, e.g. the version of Windows 3.x and accompanying office suite that I used as a child had German words next to the icons. The idea of labeling a pictogram with text isn't a concept that suddenly breaks when using a language other than English.

> Colors and pictures aren’t exactly free of cultural baggage, either.

I remember being really confused that I had to click on a picture of a frying pan for "search".

[RupertSalt]

So were you able to learn the skeumorphism eventually and equate the operation with the frying pan?

If I were in E.U. I would be afraid of needing to learn enough of 2 dozen assorted languages vs. learning an icon interface once. It would seem that human languages are not as inclusive or universal as icons.

You can do all the l10n you want, but who translates all of them and keeps current?

[hulitu]

So what does the 3 horizontal lines do ? Or the 3 dots ? Or the exclamation sign ?

Your "app" icon says nothing about the code quality of your app and coming with such ideas: " the user will press the icons to see what they do" means: uninstalling.

"Do you want to delete all your files ? [Yes] Remind me later[]"