Usable Color
Color permeates design. Yet color training is typically limited to color theory, marketing, and limited accessibility issues, leaving its full power unrealized. Color can reduce cognitive load, turn data into quantitative or qualitative knowledge, and help users make better decisions.
Just as the right chart type helps tell an honest data story, the right colors can make data visualization and software more usable. With this book (or workshop), designers will better:
- Understand the specific ways color conveys information.
- Apply color usability guidelines (including data visualization for the color-blind).
- Reduce confusion and improve decision-making for users.
Color permeates design. Yet color training is typically limited to color theory, marketing, and limited accessibility issues, leaving its full power unrealized. Color can reduce cognitive load, turn data into quantitative or qualitative knowledge, and help users make better decisions.
Just as the right chart type helps tell an honest data story, the right colors can make data visualization and software more usable. With this book (or workshop), designers will better:
- Understand the specific ways color conveys information.
- Apply color usability guidelines (including data visualization for the color-blind).
- Reduce confusion and improve decision-making for users.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: How color saved the day
Chapter 2: Why color matters
Chapter 3: How color shows data
Chapter 4: When to color code
Chapter 5: When color gets judgy
Chapter 6: How to differentiate magnitude and density
Chapter 7: How to make different types of data work together
Chapter 8: How to manage extremely complex color
Chapter 9: Why you should use color heuristics
Chapter 10: How to use color to manage cognitive load
Chapter 11: How to make colors accessible
Chapter 12: How to make colors match the user’s visual language expectations
Chapter 13: How to back up color
Chapter 14: Why less is more
Chapter 15: How to make color show what it means
Chapter 16: How to improve dashboard usability with color
