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The value of visual depiction: A comparison of short-term memory capacity between glyph icons and words

Görnebrand, Axel LU (2022) SYSK16 20221
Department of Informatics
Abstract
Icons are widely used throughout society; moreover, they play a significant role in computer
user interfaces, frequently appearing on websites and applications. In many cases, they are
used instead of text labels to make a user interface (UI) more universally understood, among
other things. Since icons reside within the UI, they should adhere to UI design principles,
such as ”reduce short-term memory load”. This study aimed to research whether the
short-term capacity of icons (more specifically: glyph icons) differs from words. A study was
carried out with 30 participants of the same population, split into two equally sized groups.
One group was asked to recall as many icons as possible. The other group carried out the
same task... (More)
Icons are widely used throughout society; moreover, they play a significant role in computer
user interfaces, frequently appearing on websites and applications. In many cases, they are
used instead of text labels to make a user interface (UI) more universally understood, among
other things. Since icons reside within the UI, they should adhere to UI design principles,
such as ”reduce short-term memory load”. This study aimed to research whether the
short-term capacity of icons (more specifically: glyph icons) differs from words. A study was
carried out with 30 participants of the same population, split into two equally sized groups.
One group was asked to recall as many icons as possible. The other group carried out the
same task but was instead asked to recall words. The results showed that the icon group could
recall an average of 7.73 items, while the word group was able to recall an average of 4.40
items. Users' ability to store more icons in short-term memory than words could provide a
basis for future decision-making in UI design, where one has to be chosen over the other (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Görnebrand, Axel LU
supervisor
organization
course
SYSK16 20221
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
short-term memory, glyph icons, UI, HCI
report number
INF22-26
language
English
id
9098208
date added to LUP
2022-09-07 15:57:36
date last changed
2022-09-07 15:57:36
@misc{9098208,
  abstract     = {{Icons are widely used throughout society; moreover, they play a significant role in computer
user interfaces, frequently appearing on websites and applications. In many cases, they are
used instead of text labels to make a user interface (UI) more universally understood, among
other things. Since icons reside within the UI, they should adhere to UI design principles,
such as ”reduce short-term memory load”. This study aimed to research whether the
short-term capacity of icons (more specifically: glyph icons) differs from words. A study was
carried out with 30 participants of the same population, split into two equally sized groups.
One group was asked to recall as many icons as possible. The other group carried out the
same task but was instead asked to recall words. The results showed that the icon group could
recall an average of 7.73 items, while the word group was able to recall an average of 4.40
items. Users' ability to store more icons in short-term memory than words could provide a
basis for future decision-making in UI design, where one has to be chosen over the other}},
  author       = {{Görnebrand, Axel}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{The value of visual depiction: A comparison of short-term memory capacity between glyph icons and words}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}