重新设计一个图标改变认知

有些图标是如此的普通，以至于我们在它们改变之前都不会再去想它们了。其中一个正在翻新的形象是“国际通行标志”，通常被称为“轮椅符号”。问题是，尤其是对于它所代表的人来说，它把轮椅使用者描绘成被动和不主动的——最初的版本甚至把轮椅使用者描绘成无头的。解决这一问题的是“可达图标项目”，该项目旨在通过重新设计经典图标来帮助人们改变对轮椅使用者的认知，而不是把注意力放在残疾人身上。图标的每个元素都经过仔细的判断，以确保新的符号不带有前一个图标的负面含义。当然，新设计与上世纪60年代的残疾人观念不太一致，后者是最初的产物。这个项目鼓励基层群众努力用新的有远见的符号来取代旧的标志。

Some icons are so commonplace that we’ve come to not think twice about them—until they’re changed. One such image undergoing a makeover is the ‘International Symbol of Access’, commonly known as the ‘Wheelchair Symbol’.There’s no doubt that the existing icon is easily recognizable; the problem, especially for the people it is supposed to represent, is that it portraits wheelchair users as passive and inactive—the original variation even depicted wheelchair users as headless. Combatting the problem is the Accessible Icon Project, an initiative designed to help change perceptions of wheelchair users by redesigning the classic icon to focus on the individual, rather than the disability. The new design is as easily recognizable, and ADA compliant but also features a person in control of their own movement and navigating the world under their own power.Each element of the icon has been carefully judged to ensure the new symbol carries none of the negative connotations of the previous icon. Certainly the new design is less in-keeping with the 1960s view of people with disabilities that produced the original.The Project encourages grassroots efforts to replace old signs with the new forward-thinking symbol. Both stencils and stickers are available for those that wish to enact change.The Accessible Icon Project is a great example of how design can change the world for the better.