Many smartphone apps are using built-in GPS in the device to track user’s location as part of their features. Naturally, when designing the user interface of such apps, designers has to communicate the location awareness using icons and visual controls. However, there seems no one universally agreed upon pictogram to convey such idea, so many designers come up with their own design for that. After a bit of research, I found 4 commonly used pictograms that are being used by various location aware apps on iPhone.
A. Rifle Sight — looks like a metaphor related to rifle shooting. I’m guessing that it is originated from the North American with tradition of hunting wild animals.
B. The “Google” Tag — my first impression of the tag is from Google Maps. To me, this icon indicates a tag of a place, rather than an accurate coordination.
C. A Pointer — seems originated from the map “Pointer to North” orientation marker. Now it is the official GPS icon on the iOS status bar. The icon is suitable for showing the active/inactive state of the GPS feature.
D. Pin — also used by Google Maps, especially the iOS native version of Maps. A pin is a metaphor that is more commonly seen in our daily lives – pinning something on a cork-board, or putting a pin on a map. However, Some apps also use the “fastening something in a specific location” metaphor for the toggle button that keeps an auto-hide object on screen (disabling auto-hide). For example, some desktop apps for MS Windows has such UI. Use with caution and don’t confuse your users.
My Take
If I have a project that utilizes the GPS, my preference for the UI elements would be C (Pointer, indicating the state) and D (Pin, pin-pointing a coordination on map) depending on the situation and the usage.
A potential follow-up with this idea is to set up an online usability tests with the pictograms. If you are interested in doing so and would like to use my visuals, please feel free to contact me.
