Driving cross country in you car can be quite exciting. Whether it’s stopping in small, quaint towns hardly noticeable on a map, flying down coastal highways with perililous views from below, or enjoying the endless horizons of the plains. However, that state of happiness is usually immediately broken when you notice out of the corner of your eye, the low fuel indicator has now appeared.

To me, this indicator is a terrible design that creates more mental load than necessary. I’m in the middle of no where, I haven’t seen a gas station or fuel information sign in miles and now on top of my uneasiness, I must calculate and predict how far I can go without running out of gas. Here’s what going on in my head:

• Did this indicator light just go on?
• Or has it been on for many miles?
• How many miles am I going to have to walk to find a gas station after I ran out of gas?
• Do I have the appropriate walking shoes?

However, bad it may appear, this indicator does have some good qualities.

• It is universally understood. The indicator’s graphic clearly represents it’s meaning without ambiguity.
• It turns on before I run out of gas, giving me some time to plan my next steps.
• Its luminance is clearly different from the background and any other indicators that might be on and visible.

NEVER just put text down without link styling or an indicator!

Super duper need a compare table here, and maybe some extra text about how to choose which one. So me discussion under the Indicator pattern.

• Link

• Button

• Indicator

• Icon

• Stack of Items

• Annotation