I compared the icons in Google Maps to Egyptian hieroglyphics. For Google Maps, some of the icons are obvious while others are more confusing. The microphone icon seems straightforward, since I associate a microphone symbol with verbal speech. This icon is a button that lets the user search with their voice. This concept is easy for me to recognize, however that’s only because I know what a microphone is. Microphones also come in different shapes and sizes, so it may not be as clear that the icon is a microphone unless the user is aware of what a typical microphone icon looks like. The microphone icon is a metaphor since the user doesn’t actually have a microphone that looks like it on their phone. The icon is just communicating the idea of a microphone.

The Egyptian hieroglyphic that I chose is ouroboros. This represents a cycle of life and rebirth. It looks like a serpent eating its tail and forming a circle, creating the eternal cycle of life and rebirth. Ouroboros was not obvious to me, because I am not used to seeing this symbol. To understand the symbol, background information about Egyptian mythology must be known. The serpent eating its tail is a metaphor for the eternal cycle.

Background information must be known in order to understand both the microphone icon and the Ouroboros hieroglyphic. I understood the concepts needed to understand the microphone, however I lacked them for the Ouroboros hieroglyphic. Icons only seem obvious and intuitive if a person has the background concepts to understand them. Both symbols use simplistic imagery to depict more complex concepts.