The impact of color combinations on the legibility of text presented on LCDs

Dark mode vogue: Do light-on-dark displays have measurable benefits to users?

This work investigates the effect of display polarity on cognitive load, using eye-tracking and subjective measures, and emotional reactions to assess whether the popularity of negative polarity displays is related to affective qualities or true physiological benefits. Younger and older adults tested positive and negative polarities under bright and dim environments for writing and search tasks. Eye-tracking results showed higher cognitive load using negative polarity, reflected in increased search time and pupil diameter for older adults in a bright environment and younger adults in a dim environment. For older adults, mental effort scores were higher using negative polarity for the search task in a bright environment. This group reported more positive emotions using positive polarity, while younger adults expressed more interest in negative polarity. These results suggest that older adults use positive polarity to avoid mental fatigue, while younger adults use negative polarity in a dim environment for aesthetic reasons. Practitioner summary: The effects of negative polarity on cognitive load and users' preferences are often unclear. Eye-tracking and subjective data reveals that negative polarity displays elicit higher cognitive load for older adults in a bright environment and younger adults in a dim environment, suggesting older adults prioritise reduced fatigue while younger adults prioritise the feel of the interface.

The influence of brightness combinations and background colour on legibility and subjective preference under negative polarity

This study explores the influence of colour combinations on legibility and aesthetic feelings for the currently popular negative polarity interface design. Legibility was measured in two different ways in two tasks: time threshold (Task I) and a 9-point subjective rating (Task II). In Task I, we combined an adaptive program to measure 37 participants' recognition thresholds and online pseudo-word recognition tasks; in Task II, 44 participants' subjective preferences were measured using a scale. We found that higher brightness contrasts led to better legibility; different background colours with identical brightness and saturation did not cause significant differences; brighter texts produced better subjective preference for aesthetic appearance, legibility, and visual comfort; and different background colours had no significant effect on subjective preference. These findings have implications for digital interface design. Practitioner summary: In display design under negative polarity, experimental results show that higher brightness contrast leads to higher legibility, while background colour has no such significant effect; background brightness and hue have no significant effect on subjective preference, but text brightness and background colour have significant interaction effect on subjective preference. Abbreviations: OLED: organic light-emitting diode; LCD: liquid crystal display; ANOVA: analysis of variance; VDT: visual displsy terminal; CET-4: college english test band 4; ISO: International Organization for Standardization; HSB: hues saturation brightness.

Effects of Text Enhancement on Reduction of Look-Alike Drug Name Confusion: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Drug name confusion induced by look-alike drug names represents a serious health care management problem in practice. Text enhancement by changing visual attributes of look-alike drug names has been proposed and widely applied in practice to mitigate drug name confusion. However, the effectiveness of text enhancement on reducing drug name confusion is yet to be determined. This study aimed to explore the effects of text enhancement on reduction of confusion caused by look-alike drug names through systematic review and meta-analysis.

METHODS

We searched 5 databases (from database inception to January 2020) for empirical studies that examined the effects of text enhancement on reduction of look-alike drug name-induced drug name confusion. The pooled outcome data were analyzed using either meta-analysis or a narrative synthesis approach.

RESULTS

From the 351 identified articles, 11 articles representing 20 individual trials were included. Five basic text enhancement methods were revealed, including Tall Man, red, boldface, contrast, and size enhancement, from which 4 Tall Man variants and 6 text enhancement combinations were derived. The meta-analysis results showed significant reduction in omission errors when using Tall Man (standardized mean difference [SMD] = -0.628, 95% confidence interval [CI]: -1.018 to -0.238, P = .002), red (SMD = -0.516, 95% CI: -1.002 to -0.030, P = .038), boldface (SMD = -1.027, 95% CI: -1.240 to -0.814, P < .001), and contrast (SMD = -0.437, 95% CI: -0.869 to -0.004, P = 0.048), as compared with lowercase. This finding was also supported in our subgroup analysis by task type for name differentiation tasks. No other significant effects of text enhancement were found for either commission errors or response time.

CONCLUSIONS

Using Tall Man, red, boldface, or contrast could help reduce omission errors (ie, wrong medication selection) caused by look-alike drug names, particularly in name differentiation tasks. However, no text enhancement could shorten name search and/or differentiation time. Our findings could facilitate the understanding of the effects of text enhancement in the prevention of confusion errors caused by look-alike drug names and promote the application of text enhancement in practice.

Semantic Priming of Colored Signs in the Peripheral Vision during Electronic Text Reading

This study explores if peripheral colored ambient light or colored light can be noticed and semantically associated with text while reading a novel from an Electronic Visual Display (EVD). Additionally, it is investigated if those colored signs are perceived as supplementary to the story and result in a more immersive experience. For that purpose, a user evaluation study was performed based on attention theory (selective attention, semantic priming, and divided attention), reading behavior, and semantics of colors. Participants received a reading assignment. While reading a novel from an e-book, dynamic colored ambient light or colored light was emitted. Throughout the reading assignment, the colors were adapted to the particular scenes the participant was reading. Findings suggest that attention can be divided between reading the novel from an EVD and the ambient color signs.

The attentional guidance of individual colours in increasingly complex displays

The use of colours is a prevalent and effective tool for improving design. Understanding the effect of colours on attention is crucial for designers that wish to understand how their interfaces will be used. Previous research has consistently shown that attention is biased towards colour. However, despite previous evidence indicating that colours should be treated individually, it has thus far not been investigated whether this difference is reflected in individual effects on attention. To address this, a visual search experiment was conducted that tested the attentional guidance of six individual colours (red,blue, green, yellow, orange, purple) in increasingly complex displays. Results showed that the individual colours differed significantly in their level of guidance of attention, and that these differences increased as the visual complexity of the display increased. Implications for visual design and future research on applying colour in visual attention research and design are discussed.

Design and implementation of the Competency Assessment Tool (CAT): user experience usability study

The decision on patients' competency to manage their affairs and take care of themselves requires a rigorous evaluation process and consistency among practice settings. Research indicates there is a lack of resources to guide healthcare and social service professionals in the interprofessional decision-making process that such an evaluation requires. A web-based tool, the Competency Assessment Tool (CAT), was designed to assist professionals in that process. The authors conducted a usability study with a beta version of the CAT. The objectives of this study were to: (1) explore what is needed to support its use in community-based and specialized settings; and (2) identify barriers to and facilitators of implementation. A major concern was the perceived onerous nature of the tool. Participants indicated a need for different versions of the tool, depending on the complexity of the evaluation. They want to be directed to areas in the tool based on their field of expertise and want adjustments to functionalities related to collaborative work. This study highlights the importance of the awareness of User Experience (UX) considerations at the outset of the design process, to limit the impact of required modifications and facilitate implementation in the workplace.

Color associations among designers and non-designers for common warning and operation concepts

This study examined color-concept associations among designers and non-designers with commonly used warning and operation concepts. This study required 199 designers and 175 non-designers to indicate their choice among nine colors to associate with each of the 38 concepts in a color-concept table. The results showed that the designers and non-designers had the same color associations and similar strengths of stereotypes for 17 concepts. The strongest color-concept stereotypes for both groups were red-danger, red-fire, and red-hot. However, the designers and non-designers had different color associations for the concepts of escape (green, red), increase (green, red), potential hazard (red, orange), fatal (black, red), and normal (white, green), while the strengths of the 16 remaining associations for both groups were not at equivalent levels. These findings provide ergonomists and design practitioners with a better understanding of population stereotypes for color coding, and consequently to effectively use colors in their user-centered designs.

Influence of drug colour on perceived drug effects and efficacy

A drug's physical characteristics, such as colour, could be factors influencing its therapeutic effects. It is not well understood whether people's expectations on drug effects and efficacy are affected by colour, especially among Chinese population. This study was conducted to examine people's expectations on drug effects and efficacy on the basis of drug colour, and to reveal possible gender differences in colour-related drug expectations. Participants (n = 224) were asked to classify seven single-coloured and six two-coloured capsules into one of four categories of drug effects, and to indicate the strength of drug efficacy. It is found that all the coloured capsules yielded non-chance distributions in classifications of drug effects, with six single-coloured and four two-coloured capsules associated with specific drug effects. Colour also conveyed differential strengths of drug efficacy in general and in relation to specific drug effects. There were gender differences in drug expectations for some colours and colour combinations. Practitioner Summary: Drug colour was found to have impacts on perceived drug effects and efficacy. The findings from the present study can be used by ergonomics practitioners to design appropriate drug colours in support of drug differentiation, therapeutic effects and medication adherence.

The effects of luminance contrast, colour combinations, font, and search time on brand icon legibility

This study explored and identified the effects of luminance contrast, colour combinations, font, and search time on brand icon legibility. A total of 108 participants took part in the experiment. As designed, legibility was measured as a function of the following independent variables: four levels of luminance contrast, sixteen target/background colour combinations, two fonts, and three search times. The results showed that a luminance contrast of 18:1 provided readers with the best legibility. Yellow on black, yellow on blue, and white on blue were the three most legible colour combinations. One of this study's unique findings was that colour combinations may play an even more important role than luminance contrast in the overall legibility of brand icon design. The 12-s search time corresponded with the highest legibility. Arial font was more legible than Times New Roman. These results provide some guidance for brand icon and product advertisement design.