On my google page right now, I see "gmail images [squares] [bell] [plus]" I don't have a clue what the squares mean or what the plus means, and the only reason I know what the bell means is because it lights up sometimes. To me the squares should mean "tile the stuff you're looking at", but there is nothing to tile, and no reason to press it. The plus should mean "add a new thing here", but what would I add? I don't know.
I suppose I could investigate, but I don't need google to do anything worth investigating.
My phone has a "tiles" button, too, but it apparently means "menu." (There are multiple such buttons, each looks different.) It also has a search button I've never pressed.
I feel that iconography is far too overused, and it is especially unsuitable for the kinds of abstractions we use for software. It's one thing to put a toilet or a phone on a sign, and a completely different thing to put a circle with a wedge, or a pair of rectangles on a sign.
I suppose I could investigate, but I don't need google to do anything worth investigating.
My phone has a "tiles" button, too, but it apparently means "menu." (There are multiple such buttons, each looks different.) It also has a search button I've never pressed.
I feel that iconography is far too overused, and it is especially unsuitable for the kinds of abstractions we use for software. It's one thing to put a toilet or a phone on a sign, and a completely different thing to put a circle with a wedge, or a pair of rectangles on a sign.