Okuzeka
UX/UI Design vocabulary · UI Elements and Patterns

Icon

Meaning in UX/UI design, with examples

/ˈaɪkɑːn/nounCore term

In UX/UI design, icon means: A small picture or symbol that stands for an action, object or idea, such as a magnifying glass for search or a bin for delete.

In Turkish: ikon, simge

How it is used

Designers use icon sets with one consistent style (outline or filled) and fixed sizes such as 16, 20 or 24 pixels. Icons without labels can be confusing, so important actions usually get a text label too.

Example sentences

  1. Half of the participants didn't know what the star icon meant.

  2. Add a label next to the icon; a picture alone isn't enough here.

Common collocations

  • icon set
  • icon button
  • outline icon
  • icon with a label
  • buttonA clickable or tappable element that lets users perform an action, such as submitting a form, saving changes or opening a menu.
  • visual hierarchyThe use of size, colour, contrast, spacing and position on a screen so that people notice the most important elements first and read the rest in a clear order.
  • hamburger menuAn icon made of three horizontal lines that opens a hidden navigation menu, often used on mobile screens to save space.
  • alt textA short written description of an image, added in the code, that screen readers read aloud and browsers show if the image fails to load.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: UI Elements and Patterns

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level: