The different meanings of icons did not affect icon color preferences. The same study found that blue, green, and red are the most preferred colors for icons, while purple, orange, yellow are the least preferred. Users are able to recognize icons with familiar colors quicker than black and white ones. Icon color can also speed up visual search by drawing attention and making a target stand out. This is due to the higher contrast of the icon’s outer shape and internal detail. Research found that most users prefer negative polarity icons over positive polarity icons. Greater visual clarity allows users to search and target icons faster. But the icons with negative polarity appear slightly larger and more clear than the positive polarity icons. In the image, the corresponding icons in both dashboards are the same. They yield a slower visual search than icons with a negative display polarity (light on dark background). Icons with a positive display polarity have a dark color on a light background. It also found that icons placed on circle pads (circular background shapes) improved search times. This allows for a faster search due to shorter eye fixations and less cognitive effort.Ī study found that icons with at least a 50% figure to background ratio improved search times and were preferred by most users. Users don’t need to zoom in on the icons because they can distinguish them at a glance. This forces users to zoom in on the icons at a micro view to tell them apart, which takes more time and effort.Ī high figure to background ratio makes the icons larger and more distinguishable at a macro view. A low figure to background ratio makes icons small and indistinguishable at a macro view. What also affects icon search speed is figure to background ratio when they’re placed on a background shape. In the study, detailed icons were slower than blank generic ones because they added visual noise to the interface. There are certain characteristic cues icons need for recognition.Īnother study confirms that simplified icons provide a faster search than detailed ones, especially at larger sizes. However, if simplified icons are made too simple, they become unrecognizable. Research found that simplified icons are faster to recognize than detailed icons. The internal details of each icon is minimal, which makes the icon shape more distinct and quicker to recognize. In contrast, a group of simplified icons has lower visual noise which allows users to search and target icons faster. Searching and targeting an icon takes more time because the user is overstimulated with each icon’s internal detail of lines, shapes, and shades. Visual noise compounds when users view detailed icons grouped together. The more detail on an icon, the more visual noise it has. If you want your icons to have a fast visual search, there are a few design factors you should optimize. When users are searching through a group of icons, they need to be able to recognize their target icon quickly.
If your grouped icons aren’t optimized for visual search, users can find it hard and slow to navigate your app. This increases the user’s cognitive load for accomplishing tasks.
Nowhere are they more prevalent than on mobile dashboards.ĭashboards contain multiple icons in a compact area. Icons are designed to help users navigate user interfaces.
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