Icons in web design will drive engagement—but only if they’re more than just for decoration

Confession: I regularly do laundry but still have to refer to my washing machine’s user guide at least once a month. I blame my memory (because it’s stuffed with song lyrics and movie quotes) as well as bad usability. The main goal in user experience design—in any format—is to add clarity, not confusion. But, fancy new washers aren’t the only place where unnecessarily complex symbols exist. Sometimes, the use of icons in web design—when not incorporated purposefully—will frustrate too.

One common sign that a website’s iconography is making it harder for users—no matter the industry—to do what they need to do is conversions that suffer. It’s been proven time and time again by academics and corporate research groups that website users aren’t fans of bad icons, no matter if they’re used on a site for a small nonprofit, regional hospital, big-time retailer, small business, or even a major search engine.

That’s because icons in web design only work when they’re acting as more than just eye candy. If their purpose is just decorative, these symbols will flop. However, if incorporated into a site’s design based on a strategy and following best practices, they can provide a visual shorthand that helps users navigate more intuitively.

Keep reading to learn more about measuring the impact of icons incorporated in a website’s navigation menus and page design elements. Plus, find out how to leverage user cognition principles for more effective symbol creation and get tips for strategically placing icons for maximum engagement.

The measurable impact of icons in web design

When we have a kick-off meeting with a new website redesign client, their top goals almost always include higher conversion rates and greater user satisfaction. One way to get closer to achieving this is through the strategic use of well-designed iconographic elements.

The best icons in web design solutions directly correlate with improved user engagement metrics. According to a study by the Nielsen Norman Group, users spend 20% less time searching for information when interfaces include well-designed icons alongside text labels, compared to text-only interfaces. And, this kind of efficiency helps companies reach those website marketing goals of using their websites to grow conversions and increase happier users.

Eye-tracking studies reveal that users are naturally drawn to iconography within interfaces. Research from the Baymard Institute shows that properly designed and positioned icons can guide attention to key areas of a page, with icons receiving 42% more visual fixation than surrounding elements.

3 website problems solved by adding icons for visual cues

Here are a few ideas of how the incorporation of icons into web design solutions, when done purposefully during a site redesign or refresh, can help contribute to a better user experience.

Real-world challenge: Most of a healthcare organization’s website users who start its “new patient registration form” abandon it before completion and submission.

The solution: Add numbered circular progress indicator icons at the top of each form page with clear labels for each step (personal information, medical history, insurance, etc).

Note: Adding icons alone won’t fix this problem. Accessible web form design also requires strategic thinking about what information you’re asking users to provide. If you’re facing a similar issue, as part of your redesign process, revisit your underperforming form’s content and eliminate the required collection of any non-essential information (e.g., “How did you find us?” marketing questions) and look for opportunities to combine related fields.

Why this works: Incorporating icons as part of the web design for visual progress indicators reduces uncertainty about form length, creates a sense of accomplishment as users advance through steps, and sets clear expectations about the information required at each stage. Additionally, a streamlined form with fewer fields further reduces abandonment by minimizing user fatigue.

Scenario: A retailer’s e-commerce site has add-to-cart rates below industry benchmarks, despite offering competitive pricing and detailed product specifications.

Solution: Optimize the website shopping cart icon so that it uses a high-contrast design, persistent placement in the top-right corner of the viewport, and subtle animation when items are added. Make the icon more noticeable by changing it to a distinctive color that contrasts with the site’s color scheme while maintaining brand consistency.

Why this works: The enhanced cart icon creates a stronger visual anchor in users’ peripheral vision, provides immediate feedback when products are added, and maintains a consistent interactive element throughout the shopping experience on the e-commerce website. The improved visibility addresses the common issue of users not recognizing how to proceed to checkout.

Real-world challenge: Visitors to a financial services firm’s wealth management webpages leave without getting the answers they need (even though the information provided is valuable, well-written, and engaging) because its presentation is dense and hard to scan.

Solution: Implement a cohesive set of simple, visually distinctive icons for each content category and associate each consistently with an icon that makes sense contextually. Then, use these icons as additional elements on the pages as visual anchors.

Why this works: Icons (for key services or product lines) used as visual landmarks and included throughout a website’s design can help users scan and categorize information quickly by:

• Improving scannability (to reduce the cognitive load needed to process information on content-rich pages), and
• Establishing a consistent visual language and overall site hierarchy.

Icons in web design: How purpose and use impact user cognition

Remember my overly complicated washing machine? If I twist its knob to the picture of a camisole hidden by half a circle, is that the delicates or handwashing mode? I can never remember, which is why, to this day, each time I dare to wash my favorite vintage cardigan in the washer, I have to revisit its brochure to decode the confusing pictogram.

Similarly, if a site includes icons as part of its web design that don’t make sense, they’ll end up frustrated like I am each time I try to do something besides the basics when doing laundry—especially because most websites don’t come with a brochure on how to navigate them. Besides, it’s not that users would want this anyway!

The effectiveness of navigation and functional symbols in web design is deeply rooted in cognitive psychology. Successful website iconography leverages recognition rather than recall—allowing users of a site to identify functionality without having to remember it. This distinction is crucial, as recognition tasks require 40% less cognitive processing than recall tasks, according to Human Factors International.

Icons in web design layouts can dramatically improve processing speed and decision-making when designed according to established mental models. Studies show that users process visual information 60,000 times faster than text, making well-designed icons particularly effective for quick decision points in the user journey.

“A picture is worth a 1,000 words” … sometimes

That adage might be true in some contexts; however, when it comes to icons in web design, usability designer Bruce Tognazzini says, “a word is worth a thousand pictures.” And, he’s not alone. Google agrees.

For the best results, the search engine recommends “complementing website icons with text labels and making it really clear what your website features do.” Other notable tips based on their researchers’ findings on the strategic use of icons in web design include:

• Show your search bar since keeping it hidden until a user taps its icon can decrease sessions by 32%
• Adding a simple label with the word “checkout” to an icon-only call to action can boost the conversion rate by 49%

Beyond that advice, here are even more ideas on what you can do to ensure icons included in your website design solution reduces the cognitive load for its users:

• Group related functions with visually consistent icons
• Use progressive disclosure to reveal complexity gradually
• Maintain a cohesive visual language throughout the interface
• Combine icons with text labels for critical functions

Maximizing engagement through icons in web design

Strategic placement of icons along natural scan paths to guide attention and facilitate task completion by your website’s users. Knowing that research on natural eye-scanning patterns shows that users typically follow F-patterns on content-heavy pages and Z-patterns on simpler layouts, here are some ways you can use icons to improve a website’s navigation hierarchy:

• Primary actions benefit from distinctive, high-contrast icons
• Secondary functions work well with subtle, complementary icons
• Tertiary options may use text-only or minimal iconography
• Progressive disclosure can be facilitated through expandable icon menus

Icons in website design for navigation and CTAs

When enhancing a website’s navigation and calls-to-action with icon use, placement is critical.

Eye-tracking studies show that icons positioned to the left of text are noticed first in left-to-right reading cultures, making them ideal for drawing attention to primary actions. For secondary actions, right-aligned icons perform better as they’re encountered after the text is processed.

On a related note, Google has found that the most accessible touch targets on mobile devices are in the lower half of the screen, particularly in thumb-friendly zones. That’s why critical action icons included in your webpage design should be positioned within these ergonomic hotspots for maximum engagement.

The aesthetics of icons in web design that drive engagement

The design characteristics of a website’s icons will significantly impact their effectiveness in driving user action.

Scale

Size and touch target optimization are foundational considerations—especially for mobile interfaces. Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines recommend a minimum touch target size of 44×44 pixels, while Google’s Material Design suggests 48×48 pixels. Apple says that targets smaller than these minimums can increase error rates by up to 43%.

Color

Color psychology plays a crucial role in icon effectiveness. Studies show that icons using colors with established associations (red for warnings, green for proceed) are processed 18% faster than those using unconventional color schemes. However, color should never be the sole differentiator between icons in web design, as this creates accessibility barriers.

Animation

Animation can significantly enhance icon engagement, but only if it’s used judiciously.

Icons that feature subtle animations when users interact with them can improve understanding when they help illustrate function. Think about the bounce effect you might see after clicking a website’s download icon and how this movement signals to you that the file is now transferring to your computer.

The key is purposeful animation that reinforces function rather than decorates. As such, avoid excessive or constant icon animation on your website. Too much can be a distraction or even trigger accessibility concerns.

To ensure accessibility compliance of icons in web design:

• Incorporate user testing with individuals who have disabilities
• Use automated tools like axe DevTools or WAVE for preliminary checks
• Conduct keyboard navigation testing to verify accessibility without a mouse
• Test with screen readers like NVDA, JAWS, or VoiceOver

Style and usage consistency

Balancing consistency with distinction when it comes to designing icons for a website is always challenging, but it’s worth it when your goal is optimal usability. That’s because consistency is key when it comes to helping your site’s users with pattern recognition.

How strategic icons in web design drive conversions

An email tip from Duke Energy about how to lower your bill recently caught my eye. Their recommendations for lowering electricity consumption included setting your washing machine to run at night, which is a feature apparently most newer machines offer.

Wanting to give it a try, I checked my machine to see if I could figure it out. So, is the knob with the sun and moon symbol pairing what I use to postpone my wash cycle until non-peak hours or is that the icon for distinguishing between light and dark loads. I had no idea, so, frustrated yet again by the lack of clarity, I had to pull out its brochure.

Are your customers struggling, like I am each time I try to do laundry, when they need something from your website? Are you in the process of doing a complete redesign or partial refresh to solve its biggest user challenges? If so, icons in web design might be part of the solution.

These simple graphical elements can be powerful tools for guiding users, reducing cognitive load, and driving conversions—but only when incorporated strategically and following graphic design and website usability best practices.

Elevate your entire website strategy with TBH Creative

Here at TBH Creative, our experts have learned more than a thing or two about what it takes to create systems of icons in web design aren’t just decorative. Over the last 20 years, we’ve built hundreds of successful websites that harmoniously incorporate words and imagery that look good, enhance usability, and support conversions.

Our team is used to paying close attention to even its smallest-in-size elements, like icons, to ensure every site we help launch features the right content that gets results and isn’t just decorative. If you’re looking for a partner to help you transform your site, let’s talk.