Color in human-computer interaction

The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of color in human-computer interaction pertinent to user color preference and computer performance. The author hopes that the research findings can be utilized to improve the applications of color in interaction design and, at the same time, point us towards the right direction for future color research on computer applications, especially with regard to the internationalization and localization of user interfaces. This study emphasizes the importance of going beyond static color guidelines by providing users with an on-line, interactive color assistant to facilitate their customizations of screen colors. That is, by consulting this color assistant, users can obtain best color combinations regarding their personal preferences when customizing screen colors. This, in turn, will facilitate their computer performances as well. Furthermore, this study provides a new means to investigate user computer expertise and user color preferences and knowledge by using quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. A personal financial game, Home Financial Management Simulation System (HFMSS), was created and implemented on HyperCard for the experiment. In addition to a critical review of our current understanding of color and its applications, research issues of color in human-computer interaction were discussed from four different perspectives: human, computer (technology), interface, and environment. The major findings of this study were: (1) Though black-and white screens were shown to be very effective in supporting user computer performance, most computer users preferred to interact with color screens. Using color to facilitate human-computer interaction is inevitable. (2) Most computer users did not possess a good understanding about color, and the proposed color assistant was shown be very useful to help them understand color, and facilitate them in acquiring best color combinations to satisfy their personal color preferences while improving their computer performances. (3) User computer expertise played an important role in user computer performance. That is, users with higher expertise performed significantly better than those with lower expertise. (4) The color assistant was shown to be more helpful to users with lower expertise than to those with significantly high computer experience.