In Defense of the Floppy Disk: The Vocabulary of the Interface
summary
Large-scale, open-text icon testing shows concrete results: an initial 131 college students (96% ID floppy, 83% knew it meant save) and a follow-up of 526 high schoolers recruited via Reddit (about 91% recognized "save"), with 525 usable responses. Data are normalized from 23 free-text fields, revealing that context and legacy metaphors carry meaning, some icons split between physical/digital interpretations, and that simple pairing with a label often fixes weak recognition.
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chapters (6)
- 0:00Start
- 18:20Diplomatic Cables
- 27:21Icons
- 29:44Audience Participation
- 31:09Save Icon
- 36:01Is It Worth Keeping the Floppy Disk as Our Icon
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