Optimizing User Interface Icons for Faster Recognition

The new icon style in iOS 7 — pencil thin, and line- rather than shape-based — has received its share of criticisms. Aubrey Johnson argued at Medium.com that they produce unnecessary “cognitive fatigue.” In this article, Alla Kholmatova tests this out, timing recognition speeds in a set of icons in the “line” style versus another set in the “filled” style. The results are not particularly definitive, and go to illustrate the point that every icon is different, and people will probably continue to argue about this forever. Read the full article at Boxes and Arrows.

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