Factors Affecting the Design of Icons in the Web Interface

Icons in the web interface were widely used to help increase the usability of websites. Historically, the issues of icon design were mainly discussed in the field of industrial design and HCI design. The objective of this study was to investigate visual elements of the icon and try to establish the procedure of icon design from the perspectives of graphic designers. The findings may provide an alternative insight for software engineers and interaction designers to re-evaluate the representations of icons and to predict their effect in affecting user experience. Based on the graphic design guidelines, the visual elements of icons should be addressed respectively and their representations were interpreted in the context of the mental model of users. Graphic design guidelines included as a part in the process of icon design are used in evaluating the aesthetic aspects of icons. It was concluded that users' mental models significantly influenced the effective recognition of icons and aesthetic quality of icons significantly affect users' preference, so that UCD method had to be involved in the icon design process for graphic designers.