[gxqoz]

I've seen some apps recently move to only having icons and no text label. I think Paint in Windows 11 is an example. I really dislike this as for an app I'm not using every day it takes me extra time to decipher the icon. And on desktops where screens keep getting larger I have the extra real estate for the app to be clearer.

This is connected to another UX trend I don't understand of dumbing down interfaces because too many options are "too distracting." Probably not the best forum to ask this but has anyone ever stopped using an app because they got distracted by the menu?

[NoZebra120vClip]

I frequently disable text labels in order to reclaim screen space.

Perhaps it takes a certain kind of person to decipher icons as easily as text. But of course, I don't know all of them already, and so frequently I just go on a journey of discovery by tapping random buttons to see what they do. I would say that's not an efficient way to learn a UI, but what else to do? Documentation sucks!

Lastly, the real curse of icons is forcing support people to attempt to describe, in our native tongue, the appearance of a thing, rather than its plain name. It was deceptively easy to guide a newbie by saying "now click open, then save, now go home" but nobody is going to know what the "hamburger" or "floppy disk" or "share" icons look like, so the verbal mode of communication has been hampered significantly.

[Pannoniae]

Partial reply: I think getting distracted by the menu is a good thing. It really helps you get up to speed with a program. On programs like Total Commander, I know where most things are and I don't spend much time searching for them. On programs like Win11 Paint or even some games (Men of War 2 springs into my mind but others probably qualify too) I just become disorientated. Monochrome stylised white icons aren't really distinct from each other, I constantly get confused between which one is which. So I never actually "learn" the interface or get any faster at using it.

[dylan604]

>And on desktops where screens keep getting larger I have the extra real estate for the app to be clearer.

Sadly, this is bucking the trend. More and more designers are thinking mobile and trying to cram everything into very confined spaces.