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    If standard icons are available, then they should be considered, but bear in mind that many of the ISO standard icons are not widely recognized. The icons for VCR controls are one success story in this department.
    The disadvantage of following a standard with icons, as with many other features, is that you now match your competitors, making it harder to distinguish yourself in the market. Using unique icons can have a trademarking effect.

    Ease of translation is a useful by-product of using icons rather than text, though adopting a policy of using all icons and no text in a product can be detrimental to usability. Some ideas do not convert to icons easily, and in those cases text is still the best solution - so avoid the all-or-nothing approach.
    If the product is to be translated,and made suitable for the global market, then you also have to ensure that the icons cross cultural divides. We will examine this problem in the next slide.