A lot of good points, and I think the idea of having both is the real key. Icons for the ability to quickly know what it does and to develop a common language like you said, and a word to remove ambiguity. Certainly long lists of icons can be overwhelming, but many icons are so universal that at this point that there is not much of a reason to try to do it any other way.
The no icon route has been something of a curiosity, and it could be a way to offer something unique that stands out. It also might be a good way to force thoughtful design and smart use of space. I go back to the menu example, I could have added an icon sense it is something of a default design choice, but using the page title and then make it obvious that it is the source of site navigation I have achieved two things and added less design clutter.
I'm wandering if there are other ways to do the same thing (more functionality with less design clutter) by at least giving a little bit of resistance to the default icon choices and asking the question, "Is there something else already in the design that can serve this purpose?"
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A lot of good points, and I think the idea of having both is the real key. Icons for the ability to quickly know what it does and to develop a common language like you said, and a word to remove ambiguity. Certainly long lists of icons can be overwhelming, but many icons are so universal that at this point that there is not much of a reason to try to do it any other way.
The no icon route has been something of a curiosity, and it could be a way to offer something unique that stands out. It also might be a good way to force thoughtful design and smart use of space. I go back to the menu example, I could have added an icon sense it is something of a default design choice, but using the page title and then make it obvious that it is the source of site navigation I have achieved two things and added less design clutter.
I'm wandering if there are other ways to do the same thing (more functionality with less design clutter) by at least giving a little bit of resistance to the default icon choices and asking the question, "Is there something else already in the design that can serve this purpose?"