a generic image of the word Icon :: Icon of an Icon

I guess for some people this may not be true, but it is for me. If a program or application has an icon that annoys me than I am way less likely to want to use it. Not, I think, because I deem the icon ugly (although to me it often is) but because an icon is the visual representation of an app or program and if I do not like the way it looks, in turn, I almost never like the program. Icons are like a little hint of what’s inside. If the developers think at all like you, the icon would be the first sign.

I do not prefer a particular style of icon, but it has to have flair. I use that word because it is very personal and all wrapped up in our sense of style. I think programs appeal to us first on a level of style. Think about the first time you open a program, what do you notice? How are the colors, and how about the way things are laid out? Sometimes you are able to customize programs; do you spend time doing this trying to make this workspace your own? Does the user experience make you feel productive?

But before we are faced with any of these questions we must get passed the icon. It is the sign on the door which either makes us want to go inside or elsewhere.

What do you think?