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Common GUI design mistake February 12th 2006, mr.doob


Do you know what's this thing in the image? I'm sure you probably didn't seen one of those in some months.. Yes, we now use CDs, or even DVDs to save our data. So, I wonder, why the Save file icon is still being a Floppy disk in 99% of the programs out there?! Who had the brilliant idea of using a floopy disk as an icon? And why everyone is still following it nowadays?



Would be fun if in 5years we're still using that icon as for Save file option..
13 comments

that's been quite acute!
please find out more of those interface mistakes.. they are very funny :P
February 12th 2006, sole
I don't think this is a mistake. It's all about user's habits. When I see Floppy, I think "Save". If there was CD icon I would be very confused. What should it mean? "Burn my data on CD/DVD"? I agree that in future there will be more and more people using computers who never used a floppy. Maybe hard drive icon would be better?
February 12th 2006, vorg
vorg:
I think the best solution is an opened folder with a bent arrow going inside.

I guess we will use folders for more time than not floppy disks.
February 12th 2006, mr.doob
Ok hard drive wasn't the best choice but folder also isn't. With technologies like Spotlight (MacOS), Beagle (Linux) and increasing popularity of web based applications I can't tell if in near future I'll be associating my files with any particular folder. Why "Save" should mean "Save in folder". File icon with a star or 'plus' sign means 'new' so maybe file icon with arrow going down should mean 'save'.
February 12th 2006, vorg
I think, file icon with an arrow means "add file". Also, file icon with a arrow down, means download (any arrow down means download nowadays.

As you can see it's a tricky one. that's why I think, if you have a folder with an bent arrow going outside of it (open), and another one with the arrow going in (save), makes the GUI quite logic.
February 12th 2006, mr.doob
Sorry, I meant, "file icon with a plus symbol means add file".
February 12th 2006, mr.doob
Well, I agree with both mr. doob and vorg. Even if I would like to see an updated icon, a more generic one, you just can't battle against habits. If you remove the floppy icon right away, the +40 years old user will get confused, maybe even us would, too. Pictograms in the so-called digital age are still in a very early phase. Give them time.

Still, I vote for an arrow pointing to a surface, not a folder. Think of a square (or even better, a circle -hdd, optical media-) in a kind of isometric view, thus summarizing the idea into a single concept. Putting something (arrow) into a place (shape).

Zomb dixit :D
(interesting topic, btw)
February 12th 2006, Zombo
La semántica avanza más rápido que el léxico...
February 12th 2006, sergeeo
what about a case? a cupboard??

we use these to put thing inside them, to "save" things..

And, also, a cupboard will be a cupboard anytime.. as i has been through time...
February 20th 2006, jaume mora
Actually, why do we need to save anything at all? A computer is capable of keeping track of all input. Hopefully, in the near future, the file system will be completely transparent. I would like to create, edit, post and publish, but I don't want to be required to save all the time.
March 21st 2006, mediamixture
Ok genius, what do you suggest we replace it with? People know what the save icon is, you want to change it?
May 30th 2006, TJ
As I said previously...

"I think the best solution is an opened folder with a bent arrow going inside.

I guess we will use folders for more time than not floppy disks."

May 30th 2006, mr.doob
the floppy, a fairly mecanical robust device that we use to save the data since the erly days of computers whe we didn't need the paper tape any longer.
I think that by the time this icon (icon for loads -ask ol'skool) becomes obsolete the concept of saving (or physical saving at least) will be obsolete as well...
so why worry about it?

It's still a nice fact of the computer idiosyncrasy though ;P like the concepts of terminal(hyperterminal), console, bookmark...
May 30th 2006, Carles