Blocks, ovals, or people? Icon type affects risk perceptions and recall of pictographs

Research has demonstrated that icon arrays (also called "pictographs") are an effective method of communicating risk statistics and appear particularly useful to less numerate and less graphically literate people. Yet research is very limited regarding whether icon type affects how people interpret and remember these graphs.

1502 people age 35-75 from a demographically diverse online panel completed a cardiovascular risk calculator based on Framingham data using their actual age, weight, and other health data. Participants received their risk estimate in an icon array graphic that used 1 of 6 types of icons: rectangular blocks, filled ovals, smile/frown faces, an outline of a person's head and shoulders, male/female "restroom" person icons (gender matched), or actual head-and-shoulder photographs of people of varied races (gender matched). In each icon array, blue icons represented cardiovascular events and gray icons represented those who would not experience an event. We measured perceived risk magnitude, approximate recall, and opinions about the icon arrays, as well as subjective numeracy and an abbreviated measure of graphical literacy.

Risk recall was significantly higher with more anthropomorphic icons (restroom icons, head outlines, and photos) than with other icon types, and participants rated restroom icons as most preferred. However, while restroom icons resulted in the highest correlations between perceived and actual risk among more numerate/graphically literate participants, they performed no better than other icon types among less numerate/graphically literate participants.

Icon type influences both risk perceptions and risk recall, with restroom icons in particular resulting in improved outcomes. However, optimal icon types may depend on numeracy and/or graphical literacy skills.