Re: icon vs button

[Steve Shewchuk <sshewchu -at- IGOR -dot- UWI -dot- BC -dot- CA>]

>I have a new question now....in the new documentation for a piece of software
>my co has developed we are confused on the use of the words "icons" and
>"buttons".  We feel that an icon is a graphical representation of the action
>that will take place when you click it.  A button has text on it to describe
>what it will do.

Actually, if you ask me, an icon is a picture or graphic.  A button is
something you press (text or no text).  Text on a button would be just
that:  text on a button.  For example, "find the button labelled 'Exit' and
click on it".  You could also refer to it as the Exit button, since that is
what it does--it exits the application.

Mind you, I've noticed in my own writing lately that I'm strongly tempted
to use icon and button interchangeably (simply to simplify my own writing).
For example, "click on the exit icon".  I'm still not sure whether there's
actually something wrong with doing it that way, but I've been trying to
avoid it.

ss
sshewchu -at- mailhost -dot- uwi -dot- bc -dot- ca

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