In a typical 8-hour day, depending on that day’s activities, a project manager might click on between 1200 and 2000 icons. They may see and use around 150 emojis and passively see between 2000 and 4000 pictograms. We do not even think about this volume of exposure. Neither do we think about the kind of visuals that we see and use: a floppy disk image to save, a magnifying glass to search, a camera to take a picture. They feel intuitive, but they are not. They are relics from the physical world, carried over into digital design through a strategy called skeuomorphism. There was a time when users did make the connection between the concrete object - the floppy disk and the function of the icon: saving a file. However, now these visuals relate to objects that are now obsolete. Not only that but many of the objects depicted have been obsolete for two or three decades, in some cases. We have new generations of users for whom the icons are no longer meaningful. So, they become learned symbols. They are dead metaphors that are embedded in our digital interfaces.

What Is Skeuomorphism?

In Greek, skeuomorphism means ‘the form of a tool’.  It describes something new that retains the visual form of something old, even if the tool in the real world is no longer needed. Two thousand years ago, potters in the Hellenic world sometimes painted fake rivets onto ceramic vessels to mimic earlier metal ones. This is known as a skeuomorphic flourish.

Skeuomorphism is when a digital element visually imitates a real-world object to suggest function. Think of:

•             💾 A floppy disk icon for saving

•             📷 A camera icon with a lens and shutter

•             🖩 A calculator app with plastic buttons

•             🗑️ A trash bin icon for deleting files.

In the early years of digital design, these metaphors were useful in early digital experiences because they symbolised familiarity. Designer mimicked tools that people had used in the physical world to help how they interacted with unfamiliar systems. Now, as the objects faded from real-world use, the icons remain but their meaning is no longer supported by physical memory but by digital convention alone, for many, if not most, users.

Everyday Icons That Are Not Intuitive Anymore

These icons only work because of exposure. They are no longer intuitive. They are learned symbols, part of a visual language that functions only within digital literacy.

Why It Matters

In healthcare or safety contexts, icons are not just there to look pretty: they carry real stakes. If users misunderstand them:

·       They could click the wrong button.

·       They could miss critical instructions or alerts.

·       They may misinterpret calls to actions, such as save and submit, delete, consent.

For example, using the floppy disk icon as a ‘Save’ button on a health record app or an eCOA assumes that everyone recognises the shape. But to many, it is just a square shape that carries no inherent prompt for preserving the file. This is a subtle misunderstanding, but it can have real consequences. Designers cannot assume universal understanding, as this is a privilege afforded to the digitally fluent. For many people, interpreting skeuomorphic icons are guesses at best.

The Enduring Usefulness of Skeuomorphic Icons?

Are these icons still useful? The answer is: yes and no and it depends.  Where the object is still known or physically present, such as a bin (🗑️) or an envelope (✉️), the metaphor can still work. But then there is icon decay that designers need to be aware of. This is the point in which the symbol no longer resonates because the physical object it mimics has vanished from memory. This is where users need supporting tools, such as gradually introducing icons with labels, hover-over explanations, glossaries and paired text (Save 💾).

There are skeuomorphic objects all around us in real life and outside of the digital world. For example:

·       Bank cards with embossed letters and numbers.

·       Electric fireplaces with fake flames

·       Cars equipped with fake air vents and plastic wood panelling.

·       Lanterns with LED bulbs inside

·       Bottles with vintage-looking labels

·       Shoes with glued ‘stitching’ overlays.

This is deliberately designed nostalgia, where something new is intended to feel familiar, reassuring and authentic, even when it does not need to. It is the same design principle as with icons in health systems and communication.

Icons are not neutral. They are influenced by culture, the immediate environment and then they become obsolete. Designers need to recognise the difference between symbols that are intuitive, those that are learned and those that are nothing more than nostalgic residue. Visual fluency is never a fixed thing; it evolves as our tools, languages and experiences do.

Maybe it is time to stop designing icons that depict metaphors of yesteryear – although, as I write this, something I cannot put my finger on shatters a little inside of me. I am of the age where the objects shown in these skeuomorphic icons still resonate with my experience. But if we are serious about systems and apps that are inclusive and accessible, we need to think carefully about icon decay. Perhaps we should ask today’s users what they actually understand – or what they want to see - and design from there.

 Thank you for reading,

Mark Gibson

Leeds, United Kingdom, April 2025