@lapcatsoftware Over the years I've noticed a clear preference for text over icons in many contexts. Like every other self-appointed expert in good UI, I had a nagging feeling my preference was the "correct" one, but I've also suspected part of it was an individual thing, and the opposite might be true for people who are more "visual" than I am. Naturally I am delighted that the quote from Raskin supports my bias.
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@lapcatsoftware When Adobe overhauled their icons to have big letters on them, my vague recollection is that they were mocked for being, of all companies, so short on visual imagination. I don't use that suite of applications, but I liked those icons. And I like how the Microsoft Office icons now have letters on them. At one point I made letter-based replacement icons for some of the apps I used, to make them easier for me to find on the Dock. Come to think of it, I might try that again.
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@lapcatsoftware One thing that's bugged me for years is Command-Tab. Because of your post, I'm realizing now just how irritated I've been and why: my brain sucks at processing the list of app icons, which are only given small text labels when you highlight them.
Just now I turned on Keyboard Maestro's list-based UI for application switching. I've tried it before; I'm not sure why I didn't stick with it. Even Keyboard Maestro's option to use a row of icons is better than how Apple does it.
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