Pattern #2: Icon Labels Save Pattern Bookmark

Pattern Author: Jakub Linowski - Founder & Editor @ GoodUI.org

Based on 7 Tests, Members See How Likely This Pattern Will Win Or Lose And Its (?) Median Effect

Almost Certain Loser
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0
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Almost Certain Winner
Icon Labels

  1. Show icon labels

    To make icons less ambigous, this pattern suggests to augment them with text labels.

Median Effects

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Engagement

Ex: Any Action / Visit

(7 tests)

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Conversions

Ex: Signups, Leads

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Sales

Ex: Transactions, Upsells

(2 tests)

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Revenue

Ex: AOV, LTV

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Retention

Ex: Return Visits

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Referrals

Ex: Social Shares

Tests

Pattern #2: Icon Labels
Was Tested On Support.microsoft.com by Ronny Kohavi

Test #216 Tested on Support.microsof... by Ronny Kohavi Ronny Dec 21, 2018

Find Out How It Performed

Home & Landing Desktop

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  • Measured by survey completions   |   p-val (?)

Zoom In
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A
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B

Microsoft ran an experiment on their Customer Satisfaction Survey at both support.microsoft.com and answers.microsoft.com (Desktop). The treatment contained two icon labels at the opposite sides of the star rating range (ex: Very Dissatisfied and Very Satisfied) - providing it with additional meaning.

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The Same Pattern Was Also Tested Here

Test #211 Tested on Skype App by Ronny Kohavi Ronny Nov 20, 2018

Find Out How It Performed

Global Mobile

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  • Measured by calls being made   |   p-val (?)

Zoom In
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A
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B

Microsoft Skype ran an experiment for the mobile segment of the Skype application with a treatment having combined icons with corresponding labels. The control only showed icons.

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Test #190 Tested on Diamondcandles.c... by Peep Laja Peep Jul 26, 2018

Find Out How It Performed With 95,776 Visitors

Global Mobile

  • Measured by clicks on menu   |   p-val (?)

  • Measured by sales   |   p-val (?)

Zoom In
  • (?)% ((?) successes out of (?) visits)
  • (?)% ((?) successes out of (?) visits)
A
  • (?)% ((?) successes out of (?) visits)
  • (?)% ((?) successes out of (?) visits)
B

This test has explored numerous hamburger menu variations and has been covered in detail over at https://conversionxl.com/blog/testing-hamburger-icon-revenue/ - Thanks Peep Laja for sharing. Here we reported on a consistent increase in both menu clicks and sales.

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Test #191 Tested on Diamondcandles.c... by Peep Laja Peep Jul 26, 2018

Find Out How It Performed With 96,195 Visitors

Global Mobile

  • Measured by clicks on menu   |   p-val (?)

  • Measured by sales   |   p-val (?)

Zoom In
  • (?)% ((?) successes out of (?) visits)
  • (?)% ((?) successes out of (?) visits)
A
  • (?)% ((?) successes out of (?) visits)
  • (?)% ((?) successes out of (?) visits)
B

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Test #16 Tested on Caffeineinformer... by James Foster James Jul 01, 2016

Find Out How It Performed

Home & Landing Mobile

  • Measured by clicks on button   |   p-val (?)

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Zoom In
  • (?)% ((?) successes out of (?) visits)
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A
  • (?)% ((?) successes out of (?) visits)
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B

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Test #17 Tested on Caffeineinformer... by James Foster James Jul 01, 2016

Find Out How It Performed

Home & Landing Mobile

  • Measured by clicks on button   |   p-val (?)

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Zoom In
  • (?)% ((?) successes out of (?) visits)
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A
  • (?)% ((?) successes out of (?) visits)
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B

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Test #18 Tested on Caffeineinformer... by James Foster James Jul 01, 2016

Find Out How It Performed

Home & Landing Mobile

  • Measured by clicks on button   |   p-val (?)

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Zoom In
  • (?)% ((?) successes out of (?) visits)
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A
  • (?)% ((?) successes out of (?) visits)
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B

This is a retest of Test017 with a lengthier testing duration.

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Leaks

Leak #14 from Google.com   |   Jul 1, 2019 Listing

Google's A/B Test Is Hinting That Labels With Icons Are Better Than Labels Alone

A - May 15, 2019
B - May 15, 2019 IMPLEMENTED

Take a look at these two screenshots, both taken on May 15, 2019. With some cookie clearing magic in between it's pretty clear that Google ran an icon experiment on their search results page. The control version had labels only in the top nav, whereas the variant contained icons in addition to the labels. The variation was implemented a month later in June. View Leak

Leak #17 from Booking.com   |   Jul 30, 2019 Home & Landing

Booking Also A/B Tests Icon Labels Replicating Google's Recent Experiment

A - Jul 18, 2019
B - Jul 18, 2019 IMPLEMENTED

It seems like Booking just completed running an experiment that is very similar to a recent one from Google. The experiment evaluated icons with labels in the top navigation against a control version with labels only.  View Leak

For each pattern, we measure three key data points derived from related tests:

REPEATABILITY - this is a measure of how often a given pattern has generated a positive or negative effect. The higher this number, the more likely the pattern will continue to repeat.

SHALLOW MEDIAN - this is a median effect measured with low intent actions such as initiating the first step of a lengthier process

DEEP MEDIAN - this is derived from the highest intent metrics that we have for a given test such as fully completed signups or sales.