[WEB4LIB] RE: icons/images for email reference service

[george at library.caltech.edu]

Clueless curmudgeon alert!!!

Why, oh why must there be icons and graphics designed and applied all over
the place?  If they add value through:

increasing clarity
enhancing website "stickiness"
[insert other favorable outcome here, my well has run dry]

then by all means, use 'em.

BUT, the gains need to outweigh the potential losses:

increased confusion
longer load times
accessibility issues (visit Bobby http://cast.org/bobby)
too cute for their own good (applies to icons and names of services, even in
text)
[also not an exhaustive list, keep going -- your detractors will]

I've heard of far too many services that were ham strung while waiting for a
nifty name and even niftier logo, before they were allowed to start
providing needed functions to the target clientele. 

Food for thought, I hope.

George S. Porter
Sherman Fairchild Library of Engineering & Applied Science
Caltech, 1-43
Pasadena, CA  91125-4300
Telephone (626) 395-3409 Fax (626) 431-2681