Hamburger icon: How these three lines mystify most people (opens in new tab)

(bbc.co.uk)

23 pointsopium_tea10y ago17 comments

17 comments

It would really be great if people stop calling it the "Hamburger" icon, and just dub it as the "Menu" icon.

When I ask someone (who is not clued into UX discussions, e.g. my parents) to look for the "Hamburger" icon, they expect to find a literal hamburger shape. Ask them to look for "three or four parallel lines", and they find it faster. I've then asked them to learn is as the "Menu" button, and that seems to stick. Otherwise, it is GOTO START ;) !

So designers everywhere, please change this horrible name and use a more easy to grok name.

Nemcue10y ago

This is a dumb statement.

If you want them to find the Menu icon then use a text label like a sane person.

logicallee10y ago

oh. I though it meant "settings" and every time I see both the hamburger icon (that we're discussing) and the gears icon (a common icon for settings, preferences, configuration) I get confused as to how I'm supposed to guess where you've put what I want.

psykovsky10y ago

Just click around until you find what you need. You even get to know the entire app if you do that. You're not going to blast a nuke or kill someone by clicking, after all.

1 more reply

DanBC10y ago

> Putting the hamburger inside a box, so it looks like a button, increases use by 22.4%.

I'm glad to see evidence that shows the extremes of flat designs has stupid ideas.

Nemcue10y ago

B-b-but skeumorphism sucks, right guys?..

Quppa10y ago

Sadly Microsoft is in a rush to embrace the 'hamburger menu' in Windows 10 (mobile and otherwise), basically because it's common on the dominant mobile platforms: http://www.windowscentral.com/why-microsoft-hamburger-menus-...

pan6910y ago

Doesn't it represent a "list"? As in a menu, a list of things..

digi_owl10y ago

I Think people would pick up on that more if it had more but thinner lines. Or maybe broke up the lines into something that looked like text.

wodenokoto10y ago

It's funny to read how differently this icon is interpreted. I always saw it as a menu and could for the longest time not figure out what this hamburger was.

I really like the "equal sign gone wrong"

Randgalt10y ago

TIL - people call the menu icon the "hamburger icon". Am I the only one who's never heard of the "hamburger icon"?

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

17 comments

currywurst10y ago

It would really be great if people stop calling it the "Hamburger" icon, and just dub it as the "Menu" icon.

So designers everywhere, please change this horrible name and use a more easy to grok name.

Nemcue10y ago

This is a dumb statement.

If you want them to find the Menu icon then use a text label like a sane person.

logicallee10y ago

psykovsky10y ago

Just click around until you find what you need. You even get to know the entire app if you do that. You're not going to blast a nuke or kill someone by clicking, after all.

1 more reply

DanBC10y ago

> Putting the hamburger inside a box, so it looks like a button, increases use by 22.4%.

I'm glad to see evidence that shows the extremes of flat designs has stupid ideas.

Nemcue10y ago

B-b-but skeumorphism sucks, right guys?..

Quppa10y ago

pan6910y ago

Doesn't it represent a "list"? As in a menu, a list of things..

digi_owl10y ago

I Think people would pick up on that more if it had more but thinner lines. Or maybe broke up the lines into something that looked like text.

wodenokoto10y ago

It's funny to read how differently this icon is interpreted. I always saw it as a menu and could for the longest time not figure out what this hamburger was.

I really like the "equal sign gone wrong"

Randgalt10y ago

TIL - people call the menu icon the "hamburger icon". Am I the only one who's never heard of the "hamburger icon"?

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse