Redesigning the Save Symbol
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Redesigning the Save Symbol
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Re: Redesigning the Save Symbol
#2I think this is something that should be done, but I sense that fragmented circles are more of a "flat" reaction to iconography of obsolete technology. But obsolete technology generally makes for good, intuitive icons. I don't think the up and down arrows are especially good at conveying things either, especially since they'll probably be paired with other up and down icons that mean other things (like disclose menus, scroll, etc). Maybe the new generation has never seen a floppy, but they also haven't seen a magnifying glass, an hourglass, or a rotary phone, yet they've managed to learn them as part of the visual vocabulary of computing.
I'm not a designer, but I think most of the ideas on display here are fashion-forward dead ends.
Re: Redesigning the Save Symbol
#3Seems like designer circlejerking to me.
If you're going to introduce noobs to a save icon, why not show them one that half the population already understands and knows... the floppy icon.
Re: Redesigning the Save Symbol
#4Alternatively, we could make autosave ubiquitous so the symbol is no longer needed.
Re: Redesigning the Save Symbol
#5The save symbol doesn't need to become universally known like radiation and biohazard. The concept won't need to be known in another decade.
Re: Redesigning the Save Symbol
#6I prefer text to icons. Text has less ambiguity with the additional benefits of being easier to implement and faster to load (at least for html/css). An example is the new Safari [1] and Chrome devtools, which both stem from the old Safari devtools [2]. The new chrome devtools removes the top row navigation icons, leaving only text like 'Elements' and 'Resources'. It's cleaner and tighter than the old UI without sacrificing usability. Safari 6 removed the text and kept the icons. I find myself constantly lost and cycling through the icons. Admittedly, I only use Safari devtools to debug safari issues.
Back to the original topic, I think auto-save and undo obsolete the save button.
[1] https://developer.apple.com/technologies/safari/developer-to...
[2] this site has chrome screenshots, but it's what safari 5 dev tools looked like: https://developers.google.com/chrome-developer-tools/docs/ov...
Re: Redesigning the Save Symbol
#7I think this is something that should be done, but I sense that fragmented circles are more of a "flat" reaction to iconography of obsolete technology. But obsolete technology generally makes for good, intuitive icons. I don't think the up and down arrows are especially good at conveying things either, especially since they'll probably be paired with other up and down icons that mean other things (like disclose menus…
It's a premature optimization, looking for a problem where there isn't one. The conversation starts off pretty much admitting that it's only an academic exercise:
The Save symbol is years overdue for a rethink.
Based upon what criteria of "overdue?" He doesn't say. The rest of the conversation is pretty much an illustration of masturbatory groupthink, nobody ever pushing back in the slightest, much less to ask, "why?"
So, back to you:
I think this is something that should be done
Why?
Re: Redesigning the Save Symbol
#8Alternatively, we could make autosave ubiquitous so the symbol is no longer needed.
Only if saving also provides infinite undo, and the ability to save to multiple locations.
Saving is often used by non-developers as a poor man's branching and version history.
Re: Redesigning the Save Symbol
#9I think this is something that should be done, but I sense that fragmented circles are more of a "flat" reaction to iconography of obsolete technology. But obsolete technology generally makes for good, intuitive icons. I don't think the up and down arrows are especially good at conveying things either, especially since they'll probably be paired with other up and down icons that mean other things (like disclose menus…
> I'm not a designer, but I think most of the ideas on display here are fashion-forward dead ends.
This... It seems like these are "design for the sake of design", and doesn't take into account that the vast majority of users really don't care, as long as they know what the button does--which these examples don't really convey.
Re: Redesigning the Save Symbol
#10Google Docs doesn't have a Save function, instead it has an endless revision history.
Which makes me think... if I'm coding and the project is in git repository, why am I still manually saving all the time? Why not automatically save every change I make as a revision, and provide me with endless undo (even if I quit the IDE). "Save" could now instead do a git rebase & squash to produce a neater commit from the many intermediate revisions.