dan+@andrew.cmu.edu (Dan Boyarski) (10/03/89)
I recently was introduced to this b-board and read with great interest the discussion on "Cross-linguistic Aspects of Icons." This discussion started back in mid-August with a post from David Mark, SUNY Buffalo, and finally petered out in late September with a post on Chinese and Japanese characters. As a graphic designer (aka. information designer, visual communication designer) consulting on the visual aspects of the user interface for a computer company, I have been faced with some of the issues you folks raised. Since this is an international company, then the icons should be as "universal" as possible. This is quite a challenge, given the cultural differences and biases that exist. A small example: I was designing an icon of a page with a list on it. My "final" icon represented the list with short lines of varying lengths. The lines were set with a flush left margin, while the right margin was ragged, thereby giving the impression of different entries. When feedback arrived from offices in Europe and the Middle East, there was no problem with the icon's meaning. However, the Middle East person's comment made the point that this icon favored those that read from left to right. In that part of the world, they read from right to left. With this input, I revised the icon and the final version has all the lines of equal length, in other words with flush left and right margins. (Later, I asked myself, What about the Far East and their reading orientation?) I was recently in Boston for the HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) Conference, and I mentioned to a number of people this discussion on icons and the problems of designing across cultural lines. There was interest on their part in seeing some of this, so I took the time to print out most of the posts over the past month and compile them into a small package. The reason I'm doing this is that a number of these folks do not have access to this b-board. Before I send them out, though, I want to check with those of you who addressed this topic on this b-board, and find out if you have any objections to my doing this. All the printed posts are identified with your names and addresses. I'd appreciate a response by the end of his week, if at all possible. Thank you! Dan Boyarski Graphic Interface Designer Information Technology Center, and Department of Design Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania