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Pictograms let you parse a lot of information at a glance, because you can pattern match a group of differing symbols much faster than you can a block of text which all looks uniform. It lets you skip reading all the text when you're familiar with a dialogue, and you can short circuit what you need to click on without having to read

That's the reason why pictographic additions are so useful. Its the reason why we distinguish different kinds of UI elements at all, because colour and graphics are incredibly powerful shortcuts for parsing information

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This. If I'm out looking for a "Save" button, I'm going to pattern match "ancient disk icon" without even thinking about it.

It's also the reason why some menu entries get icons and others don't.

If the icon doesn't convey information by itself (like a "move to top" icon example), then it's there as a visual anchor - and you don't really need to have 4 of the same "delete" icon if a menu has 4 different "delete" options next to each other. Just one is enough of an anchor to draw your attention to the "delete group", and having just one keeps the visual noise low.

Likewise, you don't need visual anchors for every single option - just the commonly used ones, the ones you expect people to be looking for, and the ones that already have established pictography.

> "ancient disk icon"

Even though floppy disks were a bit before my time and I rarely ever used them, seeing them be called ancient disk makes me wanna find the nearest coffin and just go lie down. :D

What may be added is that some people have a hard time reading words by their 'total shape'. I can imagine that for them, the difference between pattern matching symbols and strings of letters is even more profound.

> Pictograms let you parse a lot of information at a glance, because you can pattern match a group of differing symbols much faster than you can a block of text which all looks uniform

No you can’t.

I'd disagree but either way throw another factor in: non-native speakers and cross-language usability.

If your software is in some language and you are looking at docs or a videotutorial or something in another language, it's often hard to translate specific terms, Icons don't change language. They also help if you have to do something in another machine that uses a different language for some reason.

I concur that the icons aren't just decoration. I have sat down many times in a foreign country at a computer with localized settings and felt quite helpless to do even trivial things.

Look at the traffic signs. You have very limited time to read the sign. That's the reason they have distinct patterns and rarely (except in USA) rely on blocks of text.

So do I want the button with the three horizontal lines, three horizontal dots, three vertical dots, nine dots arranged in a grid, the point-down triangle, or the point-right chevron? Generally these convey no information and I have to try each one to find the option I want. If it exists.

hamburger icon: originally, in older Android UI guidelines, provides access to a list of items that can be used to navigate between parts of a large UI. But at this point, pretty much evolved to mean "click to access a menu" on UIs that don't have a menu bar.

Three vertical dots: "More stuff that doesn't fit on a toolbar because the display on your current device isn't wide enough".

Three horizontal dots: click this item to access a dialog.

Point-down triangle: Select an value from a list.

There may be slight variations depending on the UI guidelines for the platform you are using (or designing for).

All enormously useful icons that provide specific context and meaning. I can't say that I've ever seen a piece of serious software that abuses those conventions.

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