Archive, Hide or Remove? A Metaphor Chooser for Ambiguous Icon Actions
The problem this chooser solves
A buyer of an icon pack often arrives with a word, not a picture. They say they need an icon for archive. On their screen, the action may mean something else. It might tuck an item away so it can be found later. It might stop others from seeing it. It might make it disappear for good. These are three different promises, and an icon that suggests the wrong one can mislead the people using the screen.
This article proposes a small worksheet an icon seller could offer before a buyer picks a metaphor. It is an example workflow, not a record of results from any client, and it makes no claim about accessibility certification.
Inputs the buyer supplies
Ask for three things on a fictional or sketched screen:
- The action label as written on the screen, for example Archive.
- One sentence answering: after this action, where does the item go, and who can still see it?
- One sentence answering: can the person bring it back, and how?
The seller should also ask for a screen sketch with the action placed beside two or three neighbouring actions, because an icon is read in company.
The decision branches
Sort the answers into one of three branches.
Branch A, stored but retrievable. The item leaves the main view but stays in a place the person can open. Suggested metaphors to show the buyer: a box or tray, a folder with a downward cue. Avoid anything that looks like a bin.
Branch B, concealed from view only. The item still exists in the same place but is not shown. Suggested metaphors: an eye with a line through it, or a dimmed row. Avoid a box, which suggests moving.
Branch C, deleted. The item is gone, with or without a recovery window. Suggested metaphors: a bin or an eraser. If recovery exists, say so in the label or a confirmation line, not in the icon alone.
Stop conditions
Stop and return to the buyer if any of these apply:
- The answer to where the item goes contains the word or. The action probably does two things and needs two controls.
- The buyer cannot say whether the item can be recovered. The icon cannot settle that question, so the buyer needs to decide it first.
- Two neighbouring actions land in the same branch. Change a label or merge the actions before choosing art.
A fictional example
Imagine a fictional notes screen called Tidybook. A buyer writes: the Archive button moves a note to a section called Saved Away, where it can be reopened. The answer is branch A. The seller shows a tray icon and a folder icon, each beside the neighbouring Delete action, which uses a bin. The buyer notices that the tray and bin look clearly different, and picks the tray.
Now imagine a second fictional screen, a team task board. The button labelled Hide stops a card showing on the board but leaves it in the project. That is branch B. The buyer first proposed a box, and the worksheet shows why a box suggests moving the card elsewhere. They choose the crossed eye.
What to include with the delivered icon
The seller can attach a short note: the branch chosen, the sentence the buyer wrote, and the neighbouring action icons shown at the same size. This lets the buyer's team check later whether the icon still matches the action if the behaviour changes. The note is a record of intent, not a guarantee that every viewer will interpret the icon the same way.
Optional choices, not rules
Some buyers pair every icon with a text label. Others use the icon alone in a crowded toolbar. Either can work, and this worksheet does not require one. What it asks is that the buyer decides deliberately, using the sentences above, and that ambiguous actions get extra care.
Small acceptance test
Take any three actions from a buyer's fictional screen. For each, ask a colleague who has not seen the worksheet to read the sentence and then choose which of three icon drafts matches. The worksheet passes this small test if the colleague picks the intended icon for at least two of the three, and for any miss, the team either changes the sentence, the label or the icon and repeats. If a colleague hesitates between two icons, note which two. That pair is the one to separate further, perhaps by changing a shape or adding a label.
Conclusion
Archive, hide and remove are decisions about visibility and recovery. Write the decision in plain sentences first, choose the metaphor second, and record the pair together. The icon then supports the action rather than guessing at it.