{"id":"1258","date":"2019-01-09T07:00:10","date_gmt":"2019-01-09T15:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickfu.com\/blog\/?p=1258"},"modified":"2021-11-16T12:42:27","modified_gmt":"2021-11-16T20:42:27","slug":"which-one-won-anticipating-app-icon-expectations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.pickfu.com\/which-one-won-anticipating-app-icon-expectations\/","title":{"rendered":"Which One Won? Anticipating app icon expectations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Viewers can draw strong conclusions from the tiny app icons in an app store. In that split second that they view the icon, they determine not only what type of app it is, but if they want to download it.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We saw this play out <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pickfu.com\/mobile-apps\/mobile-app-icons\/which-icon-is-more-appealing-to-you-for-a-mobile-strategy-war-game-why-2A6HKGBJ\">recently with a PickFu poll<\/a>.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A company tested out two app icons and asked the panel, \u201cWhich icon is more appealing to you for a mobile strategy war game? Why?\u201d<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Option A showed a man with glowing eyes. The left half of his face is the face of a king and the right side of his face is a knight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pickfu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/23c7aca4ec1071b4ad4d807e14e95feceb672fa8.png\" alt=\"Which One Won? Anticipating App Icon Expectations\" class=\"wp-image-1264\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Option B displayed a knight looking intensely and shouting, with flames surrounding him.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pickfu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/47fde90e93d47ea5ddfe9f665b22ea5cf7404e2c.png\" alt=\"Which One Won? Anticipating App Icon Expectations\" class=\"wp-image-1265\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Can you guess which one won?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>Out of 100 responses, 54 preferred Option B. It is worth noting, however, that those ages 65 and up preferred Option B.<br><\/p>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-a-clear-game-type\">A clear game type<\/h3>\n\n\n<p>The majority of the test panel preferred Option B because it felt more clear on what type of game it was. When looking at Option A, users often used the word <em>confusing<\/em>, indicating that they had no idea what type of game it could be. One thought it was a chess game, another speculated that it was a puzzle, and another said cards.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One respondent didn\u2019t even try to guess, but said, \u201cA is way too disjointed a picture so it doesn\u2019t look very good. I\u2019m not even sure what it\u2019s supposed to be.\u201d<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When looking at Option B, most of the panel concluded that it was a war game. One respondent wrote:<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe warrior depicted in Icon B feels more appropriate to the type of game.\u201d<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The responses to this survey hint at the expectations people have of different app icons.<br><\/p>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-realistic-vs-unrealistic-design\">Realistic vs. unrealistic design<\/h3>\n\n\n<p>One of the reasons why respondents felt Option B was more appropriate for a war game is because of its more realistic design.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When describing the icon for Option A, respondents used words such as <em>cheesy, fake, silly, weird, cartoonish.<\/em><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But when describing the icon for Option B, they used words such as <em>fierce, exciting, dynamic, intense.<\/em><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One participant observed, \u201cOption B is more appealing because of how realistic the icon looks. It looks like a real man screaming versus the very  two-dimensional look of option A.\u201d <br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Respondents also felt that Option B was a better depiction of a war game because it showed more action. For example, one person said, \u201cOption B is more intense. He is a warrior going into battle. That mirrors my role in the game, and I like that.\u201d<br><\/p>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-designing-your-own-game-app-icon\">Designing your own game app icon<\/h3>\n\n\n<p>When designing your own game app icon, it\u2019s important to consider the genre that your game is in. The app icon for a puzzle game differs from an icon for a war game. Users have certain expectations for what each icon style looks like. As they are surfing through an <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.pickfu.com\/tools-for-app-store-optimization\/\">app store<\/a>, they might gloss over your icon if it doesn\u2019t depict the game type they are looking for.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once you\u2019ve created some icon designs that you feel <g class=\"gr_ gr_4 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins replaceWithoutSep\" id=\"4\" data-gr-id=\"4\">best<\/g> show your game type,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pickfu.com\/split-testing\">conduct a split test<\/a> to determine which app individuals feel most drawn to. To do this, you can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pickfu.com\/ask\">create a PickFu poll<\/a> and get results in minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pickfu.com\/resources\/toxicity-in-gaming\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Free download (opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" class=\"ek-link\">Free download<\/a>: PickFu\/Utopia Analytics report on <\/p><p>toxic behavior in online gaming<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Test mobile app designs with PickFu\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/nbt6ZFj2FXk?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:\/\/blog.pickfu.com\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":""},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Viewers can draw strong conclusions from the tiny app icons in an app store. In that split second that they view the icon, they determine not only what type of &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":""},"author":"8","featured_media":"1263","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":"","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":"","_editorskit_reading_time":"0","_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":"","_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":["21","24","16"],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Which One Won? Anticipating app icon expectations - The PickFu blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Viewers can draw strong conclusions from the tiny app icons in an app store. In that split second that they view an icon, they determine not only what type of app it is, but if they want to download it. 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