[Qgis-developer] New Icons - difficult to "read"

[Jonathan Moules]

Hi Anita,

> I think we have to be fair and recognize that a GIS is a little more
> complex than a web browser and will always have more buttons. Many
> functions which have only one meaning in a simpler application can have
> different meanings in a GIS depending on context. To simply assume the
> context from the placement in a certain toolbar could raise other issues.


Fair point, but that's why I also compared other GIS's where I could
(ArcGIS, MapModeller (FME Data Inspector uses the refresh circle but
doesn't have a back/forward feature) and noted that they hold the same
convention.
Also, that was only one single example, there are others.
These days people *expect* certain icons for certain things. To use a
different icon throws away the years of pre-training the user will have
already have using other applications that stuck to the convention.

I don't think I've ever seen a single application that had 10 icons that
were mostly the same before in the same that the magnifying glass ones in
QGIS 2.0 are.

Regards,
Jonathan

On 28 May 2013 11:11, Anita Graser <anitagraser at gmx.at> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> On Tue, May 28, 2013 at 11:23 AM, Jonathan Moules <
> jonathanmoules at warwickshire.gov.uk> wrote:
>
>> +1 for unified data adding button. From a use-perspective there's no good
>> reason that raster adding should be separate from vectors for instance
>> In depth example: take the Back, Next, and Refresh view icons. The new
>> QGIS icons all have a magnifying glass behind them (I can barely make out
>> the "refresh" circle). Why? In comparison, I have four web-browsers in
>> front of me, all have these buttons and all of them are simple
>> arrows/refresh circles. None of them have a picture of a web-page behind
>> them.
>> ArcGIS and MapModeller both use simple arrows/circles too. MapInfo
>> doesn't seem to have this functionality.
>> At this point these icons are standard conventions, but the QGIS 2.0
>> iconography makes that part only 1/6th of the actual icon, instead giving
>> prominence to a magnifying glass that's entirely unnecessary.
>>
>
> While I agree to some degree (+1 for unified data adding button), I think
> we have to be fair and recognize that a GIS is a little more complex than a
> web browser and will always have more buttons. Many functions which have
> only one meaning in a simpler application can have different meanings in a
> GIS depending on context. To simply assume the context from the placement
> in a certain toolbar could raise other issues.
>
> Best wishes,
> Anita
>
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>

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