Use icon arrays to dampen perceived seriousness relative to numerical frequencies

Use icon arrays instead of numbers alone when the communication goal is to make a risk or treatment benefit feel less alarming. For example, replace whole-number frequency statements with paired icon arrays that show affected and unaffected people for the no-treatment and treatment conditions.

When readers see the full set of affected and unaffected people, attention may shift away from the affected count alone. That can lower how serious the risk feels and how helpful the treatment seems relative to an equivalent numerical presentation.

Mechanism: Showing numerator and denominator together reduces focus on the affected cases alone.

Evidence: In the experiment, equivalent baseline risks were rated as less serious and equivalent screening benefits were rated as less helpful when shown with icon arrays rather than numerical frequency displays, and this pattern did not vary by age group or relative numeracy (Galesic et al., 2009).

Notes: The paper points to this as potentially useful for alleviating false fears or debunking exaggerated claims about treatment success.

• User Goal: Reduce false fear or temper exaggerated impressions of treatment success.
• Task: Communicate baseline risk and the size of a treatment or screening benefit.
• Data: Equivalent risks shown either numerically or as icon arrays.
• Chart Setting: You can present both affected and unaffected people in paired untreated/treated views.
• Audience: Readers interpreting medical risks or benefits.
• Success Criterion: Equivalent rates feel less serious or less helpful than they do in numeric-only form.

Break it when: The communication goal is to heighten perceived seriousness or make the treatment seem more helpful. Why: Numerical presentations produced higher seriousness and helpfulness ratings than icon arrays.

Sacrifice: You give up some urgency or persuasive force. Risk: The same display that calms fear can also understate a genuinely important risk or benefit. Mitigation: Use a numerical presentation instead when stronger perceived seriousness is the intended outcome.

Mistake: Choosing icon arrays because you expect any person-like display to increase concern. Why it fails: In this study, icon arrays reduced rather than increased perceived seriousness when both affected and unaffected people were shown.

Failure Sign: Readers rate the icon-array version as equally serious or more serious than the numerical version. Quick Check: A/B test a numerical-frequency version against an icon-array version and collect seriousness and helpfulness ratings on the same scale. Stronger Test: Repeat the comparison across higher- and lower-numeracy readers if your audience is mixed.

• Replace numerical frequency text with paired icon arrays when you want to reduce alarm.
• Show both affected and unaffected people in the untreated and treated views.
• Keep the untreated and treated views matched so the framing change is the icon arrays, not a different comparison structure.
• If the message must feel more serious, switch back to a numerical presentation.