Expert users find it easier to rely on the memorized physical position of the toolbar controls rather than the icon labels to pick a control. (She was old enough to know what a floppy disk was.) I personally used Word for years thinking the Track Changes icon was some sort of stylized Rosetta Stone. One user I know thought the “disk” icon for save was a picture of a TV. For small icons, such as 16x16 pixel, it’s very difficult for users to even recognize what they are supposed to be a picture of, let alone what the picture is supposed to stand for. Icons can save space over text, but at the price of recognition. Yes, icons are used all the time in toolbars for actions, but toolbars were intended for experts, and nonetheless users are frequently confused by them (on average, users know only six Word toolbar items after regularly using Word for two years). Similarly, icons are particularly bad for actions (e.g., Save, Publish) it’s hard to clearly show a process with a picture. Icons are especially bad for anything abstract, such as Invoice or Bid, since abstract things generally do not have any strong visual image (both Invoice and Bid could be represented as paper documents, but how would you distinguish them?).
Behaviour & Information Technology, 18(2), p68-82. The use of icons and labels in an end user application program: An empirical study of learning and retention. For most situations, users learn correct interpretations better with text alone than with icons alone. Icons are notoriously ineffective as labels, being very difficult to interpret correctly without training or experience.
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