Informational Content

Page location: http://www.streamsearch.com

Streamsearch.com uses icons effectively to represent informational content and data types. The graphic to the right is typical of the material available on Streamsearch.com. The site provides audio and video content related to different topics of news and entertainment. This is a different function than small graphic symbols that decorate the page and provide representation of the content only. See Ebates.com for an example of a site that successfully uses small graphic symbols as  informational indicators. The icons used on Streamsearch.com are there for informational reasons as well as activating the appropriate helper application.

The example to the right provides two different stories both with video attached. The sports story has video in real format and the specials video is in Windows format .   The Streamsearch Web site provides an excellent reference key (see below) on its FAQ page for users to understand the meaning of the icons.

In this example, the Web icon function is to signify content. Also, when the icons are clicked they launch the appropriate helper application, such as Real Video Player or Windows Media Player. Technically speaking this is a result of underlying technologies that are generally unseen by the user, however this function does occur, and is associated with the icon.