Icons at the interface: their usefulness

Iconic interfacing is now widespread. Increasing aspects of the system functionality —including objects, options, operations, states and messages —are being represented at the interface in this pictorial form. Against this Zeitgeist, this paper sets out to discuss how useful icons really area and whether they live up to their expectations. A classification of the function and form of icons is outlined together with a proposal of the way in which a simple grammar of icon forms which maps onto the underlying system structure can be developed. Finally theoretical issues are discussed in the way in which information from icon-based displays is used when performing a task at the interface.