Applying Axiomatic Method to Icon Design for Process Control Displays

Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) have been extensively applied to the user interfaces of almost every computer system. An important feature of GUIs is the icon. While it is not difficult to find relevant information for the design of icons from handbooks, industry standards or guidelines, it is surprising to find many inconsistencies in the information. Hence, it is necessary to find a new and improved method for the design of icons. An axiomatic method was applied to icon design. This method was based on the two axioms of the Axiomatic Design (AD) principles – The Independence Axiom and the Information Axiom. From the viewpoints of semiotics and human information processing, visual distinctiveness and the appropriateness of representation are two key factors in icon design. It was proposed that the discriminability of icons could be analyzed through the Independence Axiom, and the meaningfulness of icons could be evaluated through the Information Axiom. From a previous study, a set of icons used in a Distributed Control System (DCS) product for ASEAN market was reviewed. The review was used as an example to show how the axiomatic method could be applied as a framework for the design of icons in process control displays.