www.nngroup.com/articles/f-shaped-pattern-reading-web-content/

Some people researched how visitors of a website read a website. it's called the F-shaped pattern / F-shape model. People first read the top bar. It's nice that the first thing you see is the left bar, but humans identify shapes more easily than text, so if they see a box with a magnifying glass next to it or the text "Search", it will draw a lot more attention than just "Search the forums", disguised between other menu elements.

For this reason, icons exist, as the iconic language is easy and understandable in any language.

http://www.nngroup.com/articles/f-shaped-pattern-reading-web-content/ Some people researched how visitors of a website read a website. it's called the F-shaped pattern / F-shape model. People first read the top bar. It's nice that the first thing you see is the left bar, but humans identify shapes more easily than text, so if they see a box with a magnifying glass next to it or the text "Search", it will draw a lot more attention than just "Search the forums", disguised between other menu elements. For this reason, icons exist, as the iconic language is easy and understandable in any language.