Mystifying edit icon at Launchpad

I work with Launchpad every now and then, and today, I wondered why the little yellow icons that are supposed to mean “edit” look the way they do.

Here is an example of what I mean: "This report is public [edit]"

Many months ago, when I was figuring out how to use Launchpad, I remember hovering my mouse pointer over icons and other screen elements systematically, trying to discover how to change and edit certain things in a project page. And it was a true revelation to discover that the button meant ‘edit’. Actually, I think it looks like a shoe-print.

I had a look around today to see if anyone else had the same confusion, and there is a bug report ‘”Edit” icon is difficult to recognize’. Actually, the icon is supposed to be a pencil. If I try really hard, I can see the pencil. But otherwise, I still see a shoe. I don’t really see it as an exclamation point (!) as other people noted, since those are vertical, not slanted. It’s a little amusing that the bug has been open 3+ years, and no change has been made. A survey was done on launchpad icons, which indicated a “high level of understanding” that the shoe meant “edit”, but also “danger”. If the surveyed were Launchpad users, this should be unsurprising. What do the uninitiated users see?

We’ve known about this for three years. Since nobody with the power to change it thinks it’s worth fixing, my hope is that it gets fixed accidentally when Launchpad does a visual refresh, which might happen in a few years. Until then, I can continuue to enjoy sounding like a guru when I tell people that it’s an ‘edit’ button and they say ‘What? Really? I wouldn’t have guessed.’

About Daniel

I write distributed database software. Coding is fun. Love learning languages (spoken and computer). Always looking for opportunities to use advanced math in work and daily life. github: wangd
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