IoT Icon Design

As a designer, we try to make all things become artworks.

As a UX designer, we create artworks with not only aesthetic but expressive.

Iwork in the IoT industry, which includes the latest advanced technologies and untraditional human behavior of using consumer equipment. Most of the time, I have to help users enhance their knowledge of IoT.

A picture is worth a thousand words

Because of people’s alienation from cutting-edge technology, the icons which convey the domain knowledge of IoT become imperative.

I follow the disciplines of Google Material Design (flat 2.0 design) and make sure to offer a soothing and sophisticated look with a minimal amount of pixels.

Usability test

To understand the performance of the icon design, I run the testing of correct recognition rate (CRR)*. There were 23 participants, 11 working in the IoT-related industry, and the rest of 12 working in financial, education, etc.

The result shows the icons with labels are recognized correctly over 80%. The participants who even have little knowledge about IoT can quickly identify each one and make an impression as well.

Table 1. The testing result of correct recognition rate

The hardest recognition icons are “Onboarding and Reconnect,” and “Cross wireless technology.” However, the participants readily comprehend the meanings of the icons after I explain the design concept.

Design Concept**

Onboarding and Reconnect

There are two meanings on the icon of Onboarding and Reconnect. Also, I use that a big rounded square implies an IoT ecosystem and small ones indicate smart things.

For onboarding, it means smart things integrate into users’ home IoT ecosystem by their WiFi. I hence draw a small green square which is going to be embedded.

For reconnect, smart things will auto-reconnect when they disconnect unexpectedly. I substitute a small gray square(offline) for the green one to represent the meaning of reconnecting.

Cross wireless technology

The icon of cross wireless technology means it is compatible with all wireless technology up to now. A ring indicates united. The four colors are symbolic of WiFi(black), ZigBee(red), Sigfox(purple), and LoRa and Bluetooth(blue).

* The correct recognition rate(CRR) is the ratio of the number of images correctly classified to the total number of tested images.
** I have a set of design concepts for IoT icons. Here is only to discuss the two hardest recognized ones.