Cross-Cultural Icons

One major problem with the use of icons is that they can be understood differently by different cultures. Not all icons are internationally understood, but it is very difficult to make icons that are known across the world. It is even difficult to use arrows as navigation for web browsers because some cultures could interpret the “back” button as the “forward” button because of the direction in which some cultures read text.

A study was done by Arizona State University and Bandung Institute of Technology in Indonesia to compare the perception of Indonesian users with the American users when adopting similar web icons. A group of six icons were picked from different travel websites that represented flight reservations, car rentals, hotel reservations, vacation packages, and special offers. Then usability tests were done in the United States and again in Indonesia to determine how quickly each icon got the message across. The icons that were selected had a different design quality; one group was abstract, the second group was symbolic, and the last group was realistic. The study showed that the Indonesians preferred the icons that were more realistic because it was a full interpretation of the object. Americans preferred the opposite, as they chose more of the symbolic icons.

There are many studies done that are similar to Arizona State and Indonesia’s study. Web designers and graphic communicators are still trying to find a way to create icons that can be used internationally.

Source: Syarief, Achmad, Jacques R. Giard, Thomas Detrie, and Michael K. McBeth. “An Initial Cross-Cultural Survey of User Perception on Web Icon Design for Travel Websites.” Web.