Alert Icon - Symbol Selection Worksheet
DO NOT select icons without doing your homework FIRST!
Begin the symbol selection process with the Alert Icon - Symbol Selection Worksheet (MS Excel) prior to selecting that actual icons to use.
Step 1
Defining the States/Conditions or Access to a Product or Service
Use the Alert Icon - Symbol Selection Worksheet to assist with brainstorming sessions where the states of a product are being defined by the application developer/owner. The purpose of the worksheet is to help guide the thought process of defining the states/conditions or Access to a product or service FROM THE USER'S PERSPECTIVE.
Note: The purpose of the Alert Icon - Symbol Selection Process is to facilitate the consistent use of symbols that assist with alerting or informing users of the state/condition of a campus Web application or product (e.g. a course) or of their ability to access a product or service. The symbols are intended primarily for use in My Cal Poly portal applications though other uses may fit.
How to use the Worksheet
- Define who the end-user of the application, product, or service is (e.g. developers, support personnel, users trying to access a service). When thinking about the end-user definition, keep system state messages ("system is up or down, etc.") separate from user interaction messages ("user access is enabled/disabled, etc."). Mixing these messages for any single product will confuse users.
- Itemize the message states (system state or user interaction) of an application, product, or service while comparing the General / Meaning Application description on the left with the end-user definition. Again, be aware that if you combine system state messages with user interaction messages within the same product, it will send mixed and confusing signals to end-users.
- Take some extra time to compare your itemized message states with the General Application / Meaning description and the End-user Definition to verify that the correlation is a best fit.
- Proceed with Step 2 - take the association of the Outer Shape and the itemized states to the Alert Icon - Symbol Selection Matrix to determine the Inner Shape and the Color of each symbol.
For assistance, contact Steve Rutland of ITS/USS Technology and Learning Services, 756-5542
Message Symbol Selection Matrix and symbol selection process and concept conceived and developed by Steve Rutland, Campus Web Coordinator, ITS/USS-TLS with the artistic assistance of Christopher Lee, Student Assistant, Art and Design Major. Copyright ©, Cal Poly, 2004