[seanwilson]

> When we pack high-density information into a data table or a complex dashboard we are increasing the visual entropy of the entire system. Forcing the brain to decode intricate, non-universal shapes in a tiny 16-pixel footprint, creates a “cognitive tax” that users pay en masse every time they scan the table.

What if it's an icon with a simple shape? How does that compare to noising up the table with long phrases and repetitive words? Is the cognitive tax if icons a lot higher or just a little higher? What if it's an app where the user will be using it for hours, so they'll quickly learn what the icons mean and will appreciate the space they save?

Is a tick icon really that big a deal in place of "Task completed"? Or a pencil instead of "Edit"? Sometimes you don't have a choice because of lack of space too. There's always tradeoffs to make. Obviously try to avoid icons that are hard to guess though but sometimes that's not always possible.

I can't say I've ever felt tired looking at icons in a table, but when designing I have had the experience of replacing wordy repetitive text with some intuitive icons in a complex table and it suddenly looking less intimidating.

[gdulli]

Right, this article overlooks the difference between a first encounter and regular encounters. The concise representation pays off when you do learn it, as long as it's executed well.

And I'm fine with a bit of cognitive exploration to figure out a green check and red X scheme rather than see a whole table column filled up with words like "active" and "inactive". The former allows more columns on screen at once. Horizontal scrolling is a worse impediment to assimilating information from a table.

[simoncion]

I would almost always rather have the words; words are things I can easily search for and manipulate using the text-processing tools in my possession.

Personally, my brain "page faults" whenever it has to interpret an emoji, which makes most use of in-line icons far worse than the text they represent. I expect few people have this problem, but I also expect that I'm not the only one with it.

[ctward]

I agree that certain icons that are common parlance can increase cognition ( vs. x). However I think expanding a users icon lexicon and forcing memorization can actually harm cognitive experience.

Our users are context switching across dozens if not hundreds of digital experiences a day. Forcing memory recall is a tax. The question is always "whats the ROI?"

IMO color and words go just as far as an icon without relying on net new visual language.

As per your comment on horizontal scrolling, I couldn't agree more. Horizontal scrolling is booty. However, depending on the job to be done you can avoid overly wide tables with customizable columns, expandable rows, hover states, and strategic truncation.

I certainly would prefer those strategies over relying on a unique icon language that isn't part of the dozen or so immediately recognizable icon schemas already familiar to users.

[cosmic_cheese]

My gut feel (personal experience, not research) is that the whole of the icons' nature is important. Them having simple shapes doesn't necessarily solve the problem and could in some cases make it worse.

Imagine for example a set of icons that are monochrome, open-ended glyphs comprised of a single stroke with line weight similar to that of the text. This could complicate visual parsing greatly due to high visual similarity to text.

On the other hand, a 16px checkbox control with subtle gradients, shadows, and depth cues looks absolutely nothing like text and is filtered out by the brain almost automatically (unless of course the checkbox state is pertinent to the user's intent). Same goes for a 16px colorful icon with shading like used to be ubiquitous in desktop operating systems.

[xattt]

The box itself around a data table label could hint at a state, if the goal is to define only a handful of states (green rounded capsule for a completed state; diamond capsule for an in-progress condition; red square for an error; purple parallelogram for some special condition; etc).

Not sure how this is for accessibility in terms of colour selection, but I’m sure this could be fine-tuned.