I’ve seen it a bajillion times, said it a bajillion-quadrillion times, and made use of it eleventy-bajillion times.
But until now, this very moment, I have not paid much attention to the OK button:
It’s universal, ubiquitous, friendly, decisive, connected. It’s on your screen, it’s in your pocket. It’s everywhere. It’s you and the machine having a casual conversation. “How’s this?” “OK!” We probably say OK dozens of times each day without realizing it. It’s a word that requires two people, the speaker and the listener. OK is connection.
All interaction with technology is a conversation. You ask a device to do something. It responds with a question or some choices. In most situations, your simplest response is to simply say OK. The OK button is the handshake. You and the device have worked together to a mutual agreement. “Do you want to save this phone number?” OK. “Do you want to print your document two-sided?” OK.
It’s the one button that requires nearly no translation. Luckily, it’s also one of the most compact words available. OK. Two letters that will fit on any button. OK is not just a word anymore. It’s an icon. A wordicon.