I've noticed that a lot of modern dashboards are moving toward icon-only sidebars, and I'm starting to question whether it's always the right UX decision.
On one hand, they look clean, save space, and give more room to important content like charts, tables, and analytics.
But on the other hand, not every icon is immediately recognizable. Something that feels intuitive to a designer might actually slow down someone using the product for the first time.
Especially in finance or SaaS dashboards, where users need to navigate between multiple features quickly.
So I'm curious:
Do you prefer icon-only sidebars, labeled navigation, or collapsible sidebars?
And more importantly, do you think cleaner navigation always means better usability?
Would love to hear different perspectives, especially from people who've worked on complex dashboards.