> An icon can also be successful in a ubiquitous way — something that’s universally accepted as a true representation regardless of its symbolic meaning.<p>I really dislike how fast icons have been changing over the last several years. Everyone has an opinion, and I am glad Microsoft went with something a bit more recognizable over what they felt was pure. The new icon matches the "send" mentality over the "share" social trope.
I don’t understand why they didn’t test the old one in the usability labs BEFORE deciding to use it:<p>"From data in our usability labs, we’ve consistently seen people misunderstanding or looking past the icon in the user interface, especially when a label didn’t accompany it. When it stood alone, many people saw its circular shape and mistakenly interpreted it against other ring-shaped icons like sync or refresh or loading"