Facebook & Its Icons
Facebook’s interface heavily utilizes icons. These icons are graphical shortcuts for navigational purposes. Instead of only using text links, Facebook depends on navigational pictographs to make the end-user’s experience easier and more user-friendly.
Facebook utilizes literal icons, the images literally describe the intended behavior. For example, the ‘Gifts’ icon is literally a gift and the ‘mobile phone’ icon is literally a mobile phone. The most important thing here is consistency across the board. All of these navigational icons have to be consistent site wide concerning their color, location, size, and font (where applicable). Aesthetically, the icons are a bit cartoony and the colors are pastel like. They are consistent, coherent, and well rendered.
Facebook also uses a family of similar icons. Since it’s a social networking site, the ‘Friends’ icon has many different variations and functions. There is ‘add a friend,’ ‘Suggest friends for him,’ and the regular ‘friend’ icon/link. They are all structurally similar with a little graphical spin off that suggest their differing function.
The end-user does not consciously think of these icons. They become second hand and in order for them to seep into the end-users psyche they must be consistent, communicative, and easy to understand.
