Tuesday, January 6, 2026

too many icons

 Making the rounds (as in, Apple fans seeing it on Daring Fireball)


A seriously damning critique of Apples overuse + underdistinguishment of icons on dropdown menus: It’s hard to justify Tahoe icons



The root cause is that assuming every item needs an icon is a misthink.


I don't know if there's a counter argument that for certain cognitive ways of being, for certain visual thinkers, all the icons help. But probably the old Apple HIG (Human Interface Guidelines) got it right.