Everyone loves icons, right? They’re cute. They save space. And they communicate effectively. Or do they? With mobile design especially, there are some real trade-offs (picture an icon of a double-edged sword!).

An icon makes sense when it can help users quickly identify something…

• A physical item, like a car or hotel
• A topic that can clearly be associated with a physical item – for example, “news” represented by a newspaper
• A metaphor that’s become part of our everyday visual vocabulary – think gears as a symbol for “system settings”

But no icon, no matter how artistic, is going to easily distinguish “claim status” from “eligibility status” or “service authorization” from “service limits.” The words are more descriptive than any icon could be.

That’s why we suggest thinking twice before using icons as your mobile navigation. After all, you don’t want your users pressing and guessing to get where they want to go.

If you do use icons:

• Keep them simple – avoid unclear or complicated metaphors.
• Be aware of the size of your clickable navigation. Not all of us have dainty little fingers for pressing tiny icons.
• And finally, be mindful of the impact on users with respect to download times and data transfers. Even small graphics can put a little icon-sized wrench in the works.