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Hamburger icon: How these three lines mystify most people

23 points| opium_tea | 10 years ago |bbc.co.uk

17 comments

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currywurst|10 years ago

It would really be great if people stop calling it the "Hamburger" icon, and just dub it as the "Menu" icon.

When I ask someone (who is not clued into UX discussions, e.g. my parents) to look for the "Hamburger" icon, they expect to find a literal hamburger shape. Ask them to look for "three or four parallel lines", and they find it faster. I've then asked them to learn is as the "Menu" button, and that seems to stick. Otherwise, it is GOTO START ;) !

So designers everywhere, please change this horrible name and use a more easy to grok name.

Nemcue|10 years ago

This is a dumb statement.

If you want them to find the Menu icon then use a text label like a sane person.

logicallee|10 years ago

oh. I though it meant "settings" and every time I see both the hamburger icon (that we're discussing) and the gears icon (a common icon for settings, preferences, configuration) I get confused as to how I'm supposed to guess where you've put what I want.

DanBC|10 years ago

> Putting the hamburger inside a box, so it looks like a button, increases use by 22.4%.

I'm glad to see evidence that shows the extremes of flat designs has stupid ideas.

Nemcue|10 years ago

B-b-but skeumorphism sucks, right guys?..

pan69|10 years ago

Doesn't it represent a "list"? As in a menu, a list of things..

digi_owl|10 years ago

I Think people would pick up on that more if it had more but thinner lines. Or maybe broke up the lines into something that looked like text.

wodenokoto|10 years ago

It's funny to read how differently this icon is interpreted. I always saw it as a menu and could for the longest time not figure out what this hamburger was.

I really like the "equal sign gone wrong"

Randgalt|10 years ago

TIL - people call the menu icon the "hamburger icon". Am I the only one who's never heard of the "hamburger icon"?