This has been really frustrating to me lately with Microsoft Teams. If I'm in their app, the mute button is a microphone with a line through it (if mute is activated, i.e. if the mic is off). And the icon changes to a microphone without the slash over it to indicate that you are no longer muted. Makes sense.
But if I join using the phone app on my phone, the same microphone with a line through it (that means you are muted on Teams) indicates that you are currently NOT muted, but you can use that button to activate mute. After pressing it, the icon is still a mic with the line, but it changes to a filled in background (reverse video).
Is this because in one case, that button is a "mic on" button, but in the other it is a "mute on" button, using the same icon? And the button still does an OK job of indicating what state you are currently in, as long as you know what the button looks like in the opposite state (I always have to toggle the mute button a couple times to observe what paradigm the given app is using).
I wonder if this is the price we pay for "flat UI", where designers are still figuring out design elements without a real-world reference to look back on.
But if I join using the phone app on my phone, the same microphone with a line through it (that means you are muted on Teams) indicates that you are currently NOT muted, but you can use that button to activate mute. After pressing it, the icon is still a mic with the line, but it changes to a filled in background (reverse video).
Is this because in one case, that button is a "mic on" button, but in the other it is a "mute on" button, using the same icon? And the button still does an OK job of indicating what state you are currently in, as long as you know what the button looks like in the opposite state (I always have to toggle the mute button a couple times to observe what paradigm the given app is using).
I wonder if this is the price we pay for "flat UI", where designers are still figuring out design elements without a real-world reference to look back on.