Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!ucsd!sdcsvax!ucsdhub!hp-sdd!andrea
From: andrea@hp-sdd.HP.COM (Andrea K. Frankel)
Newsgroups: comp.cog-eng
Subject: Re: Color in Screen Displays
Keywords: color, screen display, user interface, fatigue, ergonomics
Message-ID: <1748@hp-sdd.HP.COM>
Date: 7 Dec 88 01:10:18 GMT
References: <2789@hound.UUCP> <1724@hp-sdd.HP.COM> <658@sdics.ucsd.EDU>
Reply-To: andrea@hp-sdd.UUCP (Andrea K. Frankel)
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, San Diego Division
Lines: 74

In article <658@sdics.ucsd.EDU> norman@sdics.UUCP (Donald A Norman-UCSD Cog Sci Dept) writes:
>
>     In article <1724@hp-sdd.HP.COM> andrea@hp-sdd.UUCP (Andrea K. Frankel)
>     writes:
>     ...  red (especially bright) raises the pulse and blood pressure,
>     tending to produce short-term alertness (and, after an extended
>     exposure, increased irritability!).  Yellow and orange tend to make
>     people do  ...
>
>Umm, gulp, the professional scientist in me, coupled with being a
>professor, makes me say --- wait a moment!  There is no evidence for
>these effects -- no scientific evidence, that is.  And, moreover, it
>would be very difficult to get such evidence, because of the very
>large numbers of variables that would need to be controlled in such
>experiments.  Yes, I know all about the popular literature on color.

You may notice (or maybe you didn't), that I said nothing about the
spirituality of purple, the effect of yellow on the third chakra,
assumptions about the psychology of the viewer, or anything in that
vein.

The description of the effects for red is the one that I have seen in
reports from the medical world, and not the popular press.  The most
recent report concerned the time it took for wounds to clot, and showed
a clear effect.  I believe it *is* well documented, but I don't happen to
have the references handy.

>But just because it is popular doesn't mean it is correct.
>
>Color clearly has effects on mood and motivation, but the effects are
>apt to be subtle, to vary with multiple factors, and to differ across
>people (and probaboly differ for the same person at different times).

I agree wholeheartedly.  However, there is evidence for some effects
that do not.

To elaborate on the case of "red", the popular press reports that red =
anger, and/or that red = sexual excitement.  However, in the oriental
cultures, red = joy.  Similarly, in the west we associate white with
purity, cleanliness, holiness; in the oriental cultures, white is
associated with death.  (We dress our brides and altarboys in white;
they reserve it for shrouds.  They dress their brides in red, which
some westerners correlate with ladies of the night.)  In my previous
posting, I was very deliberately NOT getting into the cultural
interpretations, but sticking with the underlying physiological
phenomena - obviously, if red is raising the pulse and blood pressure,
that could be interpreted as either joy or anger depending on the
context.

>There ARE standards for appropriate colors to be used: there will be a
>panel at the CHI 89 meetings on this topic.   

[flame on]
I hope they look past the ends of their own noses.  WHY, oh why, do
people refuse to look into the results obtained in other fields before
concocting their own theories and rules?  Simply waving it all off as
popular press and therefore wrong isn't good enough.  The putative
experts aren't doing a great job, judging from the gawdawful user
interfaces I keep getting subjected to.  If you ever want to get past
the stage of arguing about personal aesthetic preferences, you need to
look at the research that has been done rather than assuming it can't
exist!
[flame off]

And now I'll leave all you "experts" and go back to work...


Andrea Frankel, Hewlett-Packard (San Diego Division) (619) 592-4664
                "...I brought you a paddle for your favorite canoe."
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