<i>When building interfaces it's funny (or not, depending on the pressure) to find that users interpret the icons in completely novel ways.</i><p>Which is why I always think - do I really need an icon here, or should I use text?<p>The worst example I have come across was a package we took over where there was an icon of a dog. Incredibly, this was supposed to be "Fetch from database" (dog, fetch, geddit?). Even after days of using it my brain still locked up looking at the damn dog - imagine my poor users who only had to interact with the software occasionally. Switching the icons to text cleared up any confusion.<p>Unless screen real estate is really at a premium (eg iPhone), I prefer to see text, and any application that gives me the choice (eg. Firefox) I immediately configure to do so.