GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 706100
Please let me have toolbar-style back.
Last modified: 2017-08-30 14:40:49 UTC
I hate to be one of those people whining about choice, but https://mail.gnome.org/archives/commits-list/2013-July/msg02297.html is just _brutal_. I can't find the reference any more, but setting it to 'text' has been something I've done just about first thing on any desktop I've used in the last seven years or so, since I first picked the tip up from planet.gnome.org . I can't find that post any more, but whoever wrote it made a very cogent argument that you usually have no damn idea what whatever clever icon the app you're using means, but you're very rarely going to have a problem understanding its label. Ever since this was 'deprecated' I've been wasting time staring at toolbars trying to figure out what icons mean, and it's a pain in the ass. I'd really like not to have to deal with this forever...
Elaborating on the incentive for such design decisions, plus linking to data of studies, both in the actual commit messge, would be very welcome indeed.
If anything, I'd argue that if you're going to take out the choice then fine, but just set it to 'text' for everyone, not 'both-horiz'. It is unquestionably functionally more useful, and I for one find it looks better: all those icons are just visual diarrhea.
http://uxmyths.com/post/715009009/myth-icons-enhance-usability is one reference I found, not the original though. Still can't find that original post that taught me about the setting in the first place :/ ah well.
example: the icon for "details" in virt-manager is a light bulb. Because...because...er...
More examples: most of the icons in Evolution. I don't think a single one in the 'new appointment / edit appointment' window is self-explanatory. Except possibly 'Print'.
The HIG specifies that icons should only be used in toolbar when their meaning is common knowledge and immediately recognisable, and to default to text if that's at all possible: https://developer.gnome.org/hig/stable/icons-and-artwork.html.en ''' There are many situations when it is necessary to decide between using an icon and a text label, particularly for buttons. Icons have the advantage of being smaller, and not requiring translation. At the same time, the incorrect use of an icon can make your interface hard - or even impossible - to understand. Only use icons whose meaning is commonly recognized. If a commonly recognized icon is not available, it might be better to use a text label instead. Convention establishes which icons will be recognized. If you are in doubt, stick to icons which are frequently used in other applications. Consider which icons will be meaningful in the specific context of your application - users of specialist tools will often be familiar with domain-specific symbols. ''' Instead of making this a toolkit option and break application UI onto unsuspecting developers, applications need to be fixed to conform to this basic bit of UI common sense. If an application is abusing icons all over the place, please: file a bug against it and point the maintainers to the HIG.