Symbol and Icon Use

Typically, symbols and icons are used because they can be quickly understood, reducing the need to read and analyze. Studies from the use of traffic signs have demonstrated that a well designed icon or symbol can also be more accurately identified than text. Horton in The ICON Book: Visual Symbols for Computer Systems & Documentation (1994) gives several reasons for this:

• Icons are more visually distinct than words.
• Visual symbols have names or words that we remember along with them, thus they are stored as both visual and verbal memories whereas text labels are stored only verbally.
• Visual images are stored in several forms and tightly linked to one another and other forms.

A well designed icon or symbol can also convey information across cultures and to children who may not be able to yet read. Icons are more spatially compact, making them particularly useful for computer interfaces where screen display area is limited. Also, activating an icon takes much less time than keying in a command.

Of these three icons which would be the best for conveying the concept of mail to international users?