Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mailrus!uflorida!gatech!hubcap!ncrcae!ncr-sd!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: <1724@hp-sdd.HP.COM>
Date: 5 Dec 88 20:25:35 GMT
References: <2789@hound.UUCP>
Reply-To: andrea@hp-sdd.UUCP (Andrea K. Frankel)
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, San Diego Division
Lines: 54

In article <2789@hound.UUCP> nib@hound.UUCP (N.BENIMOFF) writes:
>Does anyone know where I can find some good empirical data relating to
>the following question:  
>
>Are there colors that should be avoided in constructing a user interface
>for presentation on a CRT due to fatigue factors?  I.E., consider the
>following scenario.  We have a user who sits in front of a color CRT
>looking at text and graphics for the better part of an 8-hour shift.
>Are there colors that, more than others, might cause problems of a 
>fatigue or perceptual nature?

You could check out the experiments on the physiological effects of
colour:  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 whatever they're doing faster (which is why most fast-food
emporiums decorate in same); blues and greens have a calming effect.
There is a certain shade of pink which has been experimented with in
correctional and mental facilities, which (if memory serves me) has
a strong calming effect at first, but after 30 minutes has a rebound
effect in terms of triggering violence.

Personally, I find that colour fatigue is best avoided by providing
user control of the palette (a la Microsoft Windows or X Windows
interfaces).  Once I find a set of colours that works well for me
(balancing the "focus" problem with distinguishability and fatigue
factors), I can work much longer without fatigue or vision problems.
However, the palette that works for me produces rather interesting
reactions from my coworkers!  For X, I tend to favor soft
lavender-on-black for windows I'm writing in for extended periods, and
a bright cyan on black for windows where I need to quickly spot
details; the cursor, border, and mouse sprite for those take on the third of
that trio.  Miscellaneous details in dark Violet, and an occasional-use
window in white-on-deep-lavender.  Add a black-and-white bitmap
background (currently set to some charming parrots) and some classic
yellow-on-red-plaid postits, and no decorator would touch it with a ten
foot pole.  In MS Windows, I use a black-on-light-cyan window, and set
the borders such that the active window has a red border and the
inactive ones go grey.  Few people can stand working at my terminal or
PC very long, but hey, it works for me!  And the default colour
combinations make me feel ill or sleepy in very short order.

Subversive question du jour:  now why is it that the "plebians" who are
"merely" users of VDT applications aren't normally given access to the
colour palette?


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