Analyzing icons for a webservice based on peoples perceptions

A seemingly easy task - to test out the meanings of icons designed for a mobile service for a large mobile handset manufacturer in a new geographical context.

Approach

We chose 16 participants who fit the target audience for the service. We printed each one icon on a single A4 sheet to avoid any other distraction. The basic idea was to show the participants the icons and ask them to tell us what the icon signified to them. However, to get more information from the test, we decided to change the sequence that we showed the icons for every 2 participants. For example : If we started off with Icon 1 for Participant 1, then we started the sequence with Icon 2 with Participant 2 and so on.

Results

This method helped us get a lot more information from the test, as it highlighted the importance of groups of icons and relationships that users build between them.